Rwanda Sends 3 Thousand Troops in DRC

by AfroAmerica Network on May 8, 2012

Sources in Kigali and Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) inform AfroAmerica Network that the Rwandan Government has sent more than three thousand troops into the DRC over the last three days.

The deployment of Rwandan troops into DRC follows an agreement between the intelligence services of the two countries and the meeting between the Defense Ministers.
The Defence Ministers met last week in the Rwandan border town of Gisenyi, whereas the intelligence services met in Kigali on May 3, 2012.
According to the sources, the two intelligence services and the ministers agreed on two points:
* Rwanda will send troops into the DRC to prop up the beleaguered FADRC troops. FARDC have been faced with massive defections, rebellions and mutinies. The largest group of defectors are led by General Bosco Ntaganda, an accused war criminal who has mainly been the proxy warlord of the Rwandan military in Eastern DRC. The DRC authorities believe that with the Rwandan troops in DRC, General Bosco Ntaganda’s rebellion may be tamed.
* DRC Government agreed to open negotiations with General Bosco Ntaganda. At least, the DRC Government promised to push that General Bosco Ntaganda be tried in the DRC for crimes he is accused of by the International Criminal Tribunal (ICT). The hope is that if tried in the DRC, he may not be found guilty of the grave crimes by Congolese judges. The Congolese judiciary system has been accused of being mostly run by the DRC Government and being notoriously ineffective and corrupt.

The intelligence services of the government of DRC and Rwanda held the talks at the Serena Hotel in Kigali. The delegation of the DRC included Col Kalev Mutond, Director of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR), and Colonel Jean Claude Yav Jean, Chief of Military Intelligence (DEMIAP).
Meanwhile, the mutiny continues. The latest was on Thursday night May 3, 2012 by the former second in command of FARDC in North-Kivu, Colonel Makenga. He was based in Mugunga, a few miles from Goma, the capital of the province and the headquarter of MONUSCO.