| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa Subsaharan |
| Rwanda Lashes Out at 'Cry Baby' DR Congo |
| 2014-01-31 |
| [An Nahar] The U.N. Security Council on Thursday renewed a sanctions regime against Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... in a vote that sparked a furious row between Congo and Rwanda. The council backed a sanctions committee report which says the M23 rebel group is recruiting in Rwanda despite its military defeat and that its leaders are moving freely in Uganda. Rwanda, as a temporary member of the 15-nation Security Council, voted for resolution 2136 but then lashed out at the sanctions report and DR Congo. Kigali's U.N. ambassador Eugene-Richard Gasana called the sanctions committee report "baseless" and said his DR Congo counterpart was a "cry baby" always complaining to the council about Rwanda. DR Congo's ambassador Ignace Gata Mativa said the sanctions experts had clearly shown "grave violations" by Rwanda and Uganda by aiding "destabilization" in eastern DR Congo. "Such an attitude constitutes an act of aggression that the Security Council must record and condemn," Gata added. "Dear friend, it is time to stop acting like a cry baby each time, each time to come here and hit out at Rwanda," Gasana responded. M23 launched an uprising against the DR Congo government in 2012 and briefly occupied the key city of Goma before it was defeated by government forces late last year. It is one of a host of groups that have brought strife to eastern DR Congo over the past two decades. |
| Posted by:Fred |