2 Africa Leaders Reach an Accord on Foreign Force

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Published: July 15, 2012

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Agence France-Presse) — Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo agreed Sunday to accept an international force to take on rebels in eastern Congo, and the African Union said it was ready to send peacekeepers there.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda said both sides had agreed “in principle” to accept the force. He was speaking after his first face-to-face meeting with President Joseph Kabila of Congo since a United Nations report in June accused Rwanda of supporting Congolese rebels who make up the so-called the March 23 Movement, or M23. The two leaders talked on the sidelines of the African Union biannual summit meeting in Ethiopia.

Earlier Sunday, the African Union Commission chairman, Jean Ping, told leaders that the African Union was ready to contribute to a “regional force to put an end to the activities of armed groups” in Congo.

Mr. Kagame, who rejects accusations by United Nations experts and Congo’s government that he supported mutinous Congolese troops, said details of the force — including size and mandate, which countries would supply troops and deployment details — had yet to be worked out.

United Nations peacekeepers already operate in the region. The United Nations deputy secretary general, Jan Eliasson, called for an immediate end to the violence, warning that “countries of the region ought to respect the principle of noninterference.” (Ally Kennedy)