KINSHASA: Democratic Republic of Congo demanded yesterday targeted sanctions against Rwandan and Ugandan officials accused by a UN of backing insurgency in its eastern borderlands.
The UN Security Council’s Group of Experts said in a confidential report seen by Reuters that both Rwanda and Uganda were supporting the M23 rebels, who are expanding their control of parts of Congo’s North Kivu province.
The experts, who monitor compliance with UN sanctions and an arms embargo on Congo, singled out Rwandan Defense Minister General James Kabarebe as heading M23’s de facto chain of command.
They also said that senior Ugandan officials had provided M23 with “troop reinforcements...weapons deliveries, technical assistance, joint planning, political advice and facilitation of external relations.”
Ugandan military spokesman Felix Kulayigye dismissed the panel’s findings as “absolute rubbish” while senior Rwandan diplomat Olivier Nduhungirehe said the UN experts had “been allowed to pursue a political agenda”. Congo’s government spokesman Lambert Mende said yesterday that those named in the report as backing the rebellion should be placed under UN sanctions.
Congo demands sanctions on Rwanda, Uganda officials
