France on Monday joined the US in accusing Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels, laying the allegation for the first time in public on Kigali, in spite of recent support for the country’s military offensives in Mozambique.
The accusations by France on M23 came just two weeks after Paris rallied the European Union to disburse 20 million Euro (About $21.2 million) to support Kigali’s military offensive against insurgents in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado.
Anne-Claire Legendre, the spokesperson of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Paris wants parties to respect peace processes from Luanda and Nairobi, the regional efforts to seek a harmonious existence between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, and an end to supporting rebel groups as a first step for long-term peace in eastern DR Congo.
“We condemn Rwanda’s support to the M23 group and we ask that the Luanda and Nairobi processes be fully implemented,” she said in a statement republished by the French embassy in Kinshasa.
This is the first time that France has openly condemned Rwanda over M23 rebels. It is also the first time France has laid a public finger of blame on Rwanda, since their ties thawed nearly five years ago, following years of tensions over France’s alleged refusal to help reign in perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
France, nonetheless, joined the US which has repeatedly denounced the same support from Kigali to the M23 rebels currently fighting with the Congolese army in North Kivu, eastern DRC.
