President Paul Kagame has defended Rwanda’s military posture in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), placing the presence of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebel group at the centre of Kigali’s national security strategy.
Speaking during a press conference in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, Kagame also addressed Rwanda’s strained diplomatic relations with neighbouring Burundi, responded to economic sanctions imposed by the United States, and criticised what he described as self-inflicted political issues across the African continent.
He stressed that Rwanda’s security interventions in the DRC will continue as long as the militia group, which includes remnants of perpetrators of the 1994 genocide, operates near the Rwandan border.
“Rwanda’s problem has always been FDLR in DRC,” Kagame said. “If this problem of FDLR is not resolved, Rwanda will always remain involved as part of this conflict and this is what we have said for the past 30 years.”
–ChannelAfrica–
