Tanzania won’t attack Rwandan FDLR rebels – says foreign minister

FDLR rebels at Kasiki – located in the Lubero region.

The Tanzanian President JakayaKikwete and his foreign minister Bernard Membe are sending two different messages as to how Tanzania will deal with Rwandan FDLR rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Tanzania has about 3400 troops part of the UN combat brigade in eastern DRC around areas neighbouring Rwanda. Despite a UN Security Council directive for the UN mission in Congo and Kinshasa to forcefully disarm the rebels after a January 02 deadline to willingly surrender passed, Tanzania will not be party to any military action.

“If Congo will not use its security forces to identify the Rwandans and get them deported to their respective destinations, Tanzania will for the first time not comply with the UN directive to take immediate military action against the rebels,” said minister Bernard Membe in interview with The EastAfrican newspaper. The story was published on Friday last week – the same day his boss met with foreign diplomats, and also gave a different policy direction.

“As we speak, most of these resolutions have not been applied,” added Membe. “Thus, as a country we won’t be ready to join any combined attack against the rebels because not all people in eastern DR Congo are FDRL rebels.”

He said isolation of the rebels scattered in eastern DR Congo was essential to maintaining peace in the region.

The same day the story featuring the minister was released, is the same day President Kikwete spoke about the FDLR rebels in the address to foreign diplomats. The President said he was “setting the record straight” that Tanzania would support action on the militia group which slaughtered Tutsis in Rwanda during the genocide in 1994, and fled across to the then Zaire.

“Let me use this opportunity to set records straight about Tanzania’s position and role in the evolving security situation in the Eastern DRC and the ongoing voluntary surrender and disarmament exercise by the FDLR rebels,” said Kikwete.

“We have always been supportive and will continue to be supportive of these efforts to ensure the Eastern DRC is free of armed groups that threaten the security of the people of Congo and Congo’s neighbours.  Any misrepresentation of Tanzania’s position is done by people who pretend to read Tanzania’s mind and make their thinking the truth.  This is preposterous and contemptible.  It is done by people who have ill intensions against our country.”

Were the two leaders deliberately giving conflicting messages, or the President had over-ruled his foreign minister. What is clear is that from President Kikwete’s message, he did not give any categorical position as to how Tanzania is going to “support”.

Tanzania is no stranger to FDLR. Its commanders use Tanzanian passports to travel outside the bushes of eastern Congo. As News of Rwanda has extensively reported, Tanzania considers FDLR as “freedom fighters” despite their genocidal agenda to annihilate Tutsis.

The most recent report on DRC established a clear link with the FDLR, who are under UN sanctions.