Rwanda, DRC approve Joint Operation Plan against FDLR

By Edwin Musoni

Rwanda’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. James Kabarebe together with his Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) counterpart Gen. Didier Etumba, have endorsed a Joint Military Operation Plan against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the ex-Far/Interahamwe, the military spokesperson has revealed.

Gen Kabarebe was in Kinshasa late last week to meet with his Congolese counterpart to discuss the modalities of how both parties can finally implement the Joint Plan to uproot negative forces in the volatile eastern DRC.

“The two Force commanders endorsed the plan which implies that its implementation takes immediate effect,” explained military spokesperson Maj. Jill Rutaremara.

While in the DRC, Gen. Kabarebe also met Congolese President Joseph Kabila and the UN’s Special Envoy, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, - - they are said to have discussed resolutions to the conflict engulfing the Eastern DRC, and how the negative forces can be suppressed.

Kabarebe’s meeting with Etumba is a follow up of last December’s Joint Defence Ministers’ meeting that was held in the western Province town of Rubavu (formerly Gisenyi).

Rutaremara declined to reveal details of the operation plan explaining that the details of the operation would be disclosed at the right time.

He however added that the Military High Commands from both countries opted to use force to eliminate negative forces and disarm them since the diplomatic way did not seem to be working.

The Joint Military Operation Plan was endorsed after a two-day bilateral meeting by the countries’ Foreign Affairs Ministers on December 5 last year in the DRC border town of Goma.

The plan aims at routing out from the Congo, FDLR and ex-FAR/Interahamwe militia, remnants of those who spearheaded the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis that claimed the lives of over one million people.

Source:
The New Times-Kigali