‘Kikwete’s remarks on FDLR shocking’

Remarks made by President Jakaya Kikwete on the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels have been described as “aberrant” and “shocking”.The Tanzanian President suggested - during an AU summit on Sunday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - that Kigali should negotiate with the Congo-based rebels. The Summit tackled security issues on the continent, including instability in eastern DR Congo. But in an interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI) on Monday, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo said Rwanda will not consider negotiating with people who are responsible for the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi.“Those who think that Rwanda today should sit down at the negotiating table with FDLR simply don’t know what they are talking about,” she said adding that it is unfortunate that the rebel group has sympathisers in the region, including President Kikwete himself, should he not retract his comments.Mushikiwabo told the French broadcaster that she did not expect President Kikwete to suggest that Rwanda negotiate with known terrorists since he has served as a foreign affairs minister for his country and knows the FDLR background.Minister Mushikiwabo pointed out that President Kikwete could be just another sympathiser for the group whose ideology is still being fought in Rwanda and worldwide.“There are many spokespeople for the FDLR. Some are ideologically aligned to the FDLR. We stopped the Genocide but we didn’t stop the ideology,” she added.The FDLR is made up of members who are largely responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The group, named by the UN as a terrorist organisation, has been involved in creating instability in eastern Congo along with several armed militia roaming in the region and it attacked Rwanda twice last year, killing two people.Reactions from experts At the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the African Union- celebrated last weekend in Addis Ababa, a meeting involving parties concerned by the Addis Ababa Peace, Security, and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of Congo and the region signed in February was held, during which President Kikwete called for all-encompassing talks with belligerents in the Congo.He reportedly told participants at the meeting, including Rwandan and Ugandan Presidents Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni, that the recently deployed UN brigade will only be able to help temporarily, essentially calling for all the concerned parties to enter into talks with rebels.The Tanzanian President suggested that Rwanda engages in direct talks with the FDLR and that President Museveni holds talks with the rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces-National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU) that is opposed to his government.Several experts and analysts in Rwanda reacted to Kikwete’s comments with condemnation.Professor Pierre Rwanyindo, Director of the Kigali-based Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace (IRDP) told The New Times yesterday that negotiations with the FDLR are simply impossible and Kikwete seems to “ignore the history”.“He (Kikwete) should first ask himself how FDLR ended up in Congo since they are not Congolese. The Rwandan government encourages all Rwandan refugees to return home, but the FDLR just want to attack Rwanda because of the crimes they committed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi,” Rwanyindo said.Insult to RwandansThe Chairperson of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs committee, MP Gideon Kayinamura, also said negotiating with the FDLR is insulting.“You just don’t enter into negotiations with genocidaires. It’s an insult on Rwandans,” he said.Alice Umutoni, a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi said that as Tanzania’s President, Kikwete should know better.“Given that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is based in Tanzania, we have no doubt that President Kikwete has been following the court proceedings and should comprehend the threat posed by the FDLR to Rwanda’s and the region’s peace and security,” Umutoni said.Last month, the United States renewed its staked $5 million (about Rwf3.2 billion) for information leading to the arrest, transfer and conviction of FDLR’s leader Sylvestre Mudacumura.