Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) militia, operating in eastern DR Congo, has been given a six-month ultimatum to lay down arms voluntarily or face a forceful disarmament.

The deadline was given Thursday by foreign affairs ministers of member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) meeting in the Angolan Capital, Luanda.

"Six months was the general consensus after looking into many factors, even though Rwanda and others suggested that the timeline could be shortened,” explained Vincent Karega, Rwanda’s High Commissioner to South Africa and Angola.

"There was a consensus by all ICGLR and SADC members present that FDLR must be requested to voluntary disarm and sent back to Rwanda for re integration and resettlement. Failure to voluntarily disarm in a period not exceeding six months they shall be disarmed militarily by force”.

A United Nations peace keeping mission in the DRC, Monusco, already has a robust mandate to use force against armed groups. It used it to disband M23 rebels, but has, to date failed to move against the Rwandan armed group.

FDLR had in the past vowed to lay down arms but it never did. A pledge to fully disarm a month ago was not honoured either. Less than 200 old and sick combatants with rusty and obsolete weapons turned up. Rwandan military intelligence sources put FDLR’s current strength at about 4,000 men.

"The results of this surrender are not sufficient,” Angola’s Foreign Affairs Minister Georges Chikoti was quoted by Angola Press News Agency as saying. He added that the new ultimatum would be reviewed every six months.

"All parties agree that FDLR and other negative forces undermine peace and security and therefore delay the regions integration and development,” noted Karega.

The Rwandan government has been encouraging voluntary repatriation with over 10,000 returning home in the last ten years, according to available figures.