Foreign Minister goes to Kinshasa

KINSHASA - Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Rosemary Museminali, is expected in Kinshasa today as part of the ongoing high level talks between both countries. The talks are aimed at harmonising diplomatic relations between the countries to help bring peace to the eastern DRC. DRC’s new Foreign Minister, Alexis Tambwe Mwamba, Tuesday, also delivered a special message from President Joseph Kabila to President Kagame seeking a bilateral Summit. The offer was kindly turned down and instead the Rwandan Head of State suggested that existing avenues (spelt out in the Lusaka, Pretoria and Nairobi agreements) first be exhausted before a meeting could take place. Museminali’s visit coincides with the government’s army (FARDC) abandoning the provincial capital, Goma to advancing rebels of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP). Media reports say the retreating army commandeered vehicles from the population as a means of quickly getting out of town.Earlier in the morning, FARDC artillery fire landed in Rwandan territory. Eyewitness reports say at least seven shells landed in Kabuhanga near Petite Barrière and Kamahoro, where residents immediately evacuated. The government brought the incident to the attention of the Congolese government who immediately brought an end to the attacks. No injuries were reported. Yesterday evening, with CNDP camped at the gates of the city, their leader Gen. Laurent Nkunda declared a unilateral ceasefire because “there is a state of destabilisation in town.” He also urged the government side to do the same. Nkunda said he had requested the UN peacekeeping force, MONUC, to stabilise the town which is teeming with thousands of panicky refugees fleeing the fighting. Ends