The Chairperson of the Africa Union, Senegalese President Macky Sall, on Sunday, May 29, called for dialogue between Rwanda and the DR Congo as tensions escalate between the two neighbors following the resurgence of the M23 rebellion in the latter’s restive east.
Increasing tension between the DR Congo army (FARDC) and M23 rebels near the common border is threatening to drag Rwanda into the conflict.
The AU Chairperson’s plea for dialogue especially comes after the recent cross-border shelling on Rwandan territory. On May 23, rockets from the Congolese side of the border injured several people in at least two sectors in Musanze district, in Rwanda. The Congolese army and the terrorist FDLR militia, according to Kigali, also kidnapped two Rwandan soldiers who were patrolling along the common border.
Kigali on Saturday requested DR Congo authorities to release the two Rwandan soldiers.
“I am seriously concerned by the rising tension between Rwanda and the DRC,” President Sall tweeted.
“I call for calm and dialogue between the two countries and for the peaceful resolution of the crisis with the support of regional mechanisms and of the African Union.”
Even though Kigali has stressed that it has no intention of being drawn into an intra-Congolese matter, Kinshasa.
While in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, attending an extraordinary Summit on countering terrorism and unconstitutional change of government in Africa, Dr Vincent Biruta, Rwanda’s Minis, on Saturday, May 28, appealed to the DR Congo to observe good neighborliness, own up to her problems, and avoid apportioning blame where none exists.
