Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo visits DRC
Rwanda’s foreign affairs minister Hon. Louise Mushikiwabo just ended a two day work visit to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
On Monday,June,18th, Mushikiwabo and his DRC counterpart Raymond Tshibanga, DRC foreign affairs Minister opened a series of discussions on the situation in North Kivu.
According to RDC official sources, Mushikiwabo visited DRC to meet with the Congolese leaders regarding the situation in Northern Kivu, where rebels are fighting with RDC armed Forces.
“The Rwandan foreign affairs minister came naturally to speak on the issue of eastern DRC,” stated Lambert Mende, spokesman for the Congolese government.
RDC, Monusco and Human Rights Watch, have been accusing General Bosco Ntaganda of being behind the North Kivu fights adding that Ntaganda would have received support from Rwandan.
Rwanda denied and distanced themselves from the allegations to support Ntaganda, to cause insurgencies in Northern Kivu, as quoted from a recent speech by Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda’s foreign affairs minister.
“Rwanda has maintained from the outset that the current instability in the Eastern DRC is a matter for the Congolese government and military.  Rwanda’s national interest is served by containing conflict and building deeper bonds of peace with our neighbours. The international community continues to neglect real issues of stability by limiting itself to symptoms instead of the root cause of suffering in our region,” Mushikiwabo told the press recently.
The discussions between Mushikiwabo and DRC officials ended on Tuesday 19th June 2012.