The Rwandan government has rejected the «regrettable» decision of the Congolese authorities to expel its ambassador to the country, in what it considers an attempt to turn Rwanda into a «scapegoat» for the advances made in recent hours by the M23 rebel movement, a group allegedly linked to the Rwandan authorities.
The spokesman of the Congolese government, Patrick Muyaya, recognized last Saturday that the advance of the M23 in the localities of Rugari, Kiwanja and, above all, central Rutshuru, in the east of the country, represents a «threat for the national security», according to declarations collected by the Congolese news portal Politico.
The capture of the center of Rutshuru clears in principle the way for the rebels to the capital of North Kivu, Goma, on the same border with Rwanda, and right now the place where thousands of people are escaping to throughout this weekend.
The Congolese government has attributed this advance to the «massive arrival in recent days of elements of the Rwandan Army to support the M23 terrorists» with a view to a «general offensive against the positions of the Congolese armed forces». For this reason, the Higher Council of Defense of the DRC ended up proposing to the government the immediate expulsion of the Rwandan ambassador, Vincent Karega.
The expulsion of the ambassador, in the opinion of the Rwandan government, is nothing more than «another attempt by the Congolese authorities to cover up and distract the people from their own government and security errors», regrets the Rwandan government in a communiqué published this Sunday by the newspaper ‘The New Times’, in which it warns that its forces on the border with the DRC «remain on alert» in the face of this «intensification» of the crisis.
As it has done on other occasions, Rwanda accuses the Congolese Army of «acting in collusion» with the main Rwandan rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) «and its attempts to bombard the border with heavy artillery».
The Rwandan government also draws attention to «the constant hate speech» that the Congolese authorities are spreading about Rwandans and the Kiñaruanda communities» living on the border between the two countries.
In general terms, Rwanda considers it «regrettable» that the Congolese government «continues to try to turn Rwanda into a scapegoat to cover up its failures» and reiterates that the country «remains committed to a sustainable and peaceful solution» to the crisis in the area.
