Rwanda pulls out of regional bloc over DR Congo row
Rwanda has said it is pulling out of a central African regional bloc after a diplomatic row over its involvement in the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.The country was supposed to take up the chairman role of the Economic Community of Central African States (Eccas), which rotates between its 11 members.But it was prevented from doing so at a meeting on Saturday in Equatorial Guinea.Announcing its decision to leave Eccas, Rwanda said its right to take up the "chairmanship… was deliberately ignored in order to impose the DRC's diktat".
As a result it "sees no justification for remaining in an organisation whose current functioning runs counter to its founding principles and intended purpose".The row comes as efforts to end the fighting in eastern DR Congo continue. Following US mediation, Rwanda and DR Congo are working on a draft peace plan that is expected to be signed later this month.According to a statement from the Congolese presidency, the Eccas leaders at the summit "acknowledged the aggression against the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and ordered the aggressor country to withdraw its troops from Congolese soil".It added that until the dispute is resolved it was decided that Equatorial Guinea would remain in the chairman role "to the detriment of Rwanda".In a comment directed at Rwanda, Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya said that "one cannot continually and voluntarily violate the principles that underpin our regional institutions and claim to want to preside over them".He added that the Eccas decision "should inspire other regional organisations to adopt a firmer stance against Rwanda".Rwanda has been accused of supporting M23 rebels in the east of DR Congo. The group has made major advances at the beginning of the year, taking the key regional cities of Goma and Bukavu.DR Congo's government, as well as the US and France, have identified Rwanda as backing the M23.Last year, a UN experts' report said that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the rebels.But Rwanda has denied the accusations saying instead that its troops were deployed along its border to prevent the conflict spilling over to its territory.Rwanda has once before, in 2007, left Eccas, whose mission is to foster co-operation and strengthen regional integration in central Africa. It rejoined several years later.Additional reporting by Emery Makumeno
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BBC News
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Rwanda pulls out of regional bloc over DR Congo row
Rwanda has said it is pulling out of a central African regional bloc after a diplomatic row over its involvement in the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of country was supposed to take up the chairman role of the Economic Community of Central African States (Eccas), which rotates between its 11 it was prevented from doing so at a meeting on Saturday in Equatorial its decision to leave Eccas, Rwanda said its right to take up the "chairmanship… was deliberately ignored in order to impose the DRC's diktat". As a result it "sees no justification for remaining in an organisation whose current functioning runs counter to its founding principles and intended purpose".The row comes as efforts to end the fighting in eastern DR Congo continue. Following US mediation, Rwanda and DR Congo are working on a draft peace plan that is expected to be signed later this to a statement from the Congolese presidency, the Eccas leaders at the summit "acknowledged the aggression against the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and ordered the aggressor country to withdraw its troops from Congolese soil".It added that until the dispute is resolved it was decided that Equatorial Guinea would remain in the chairman role "to the detriment of Rwanda".In a comment directed at Rwanda, Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya said that "one cannot continually and voluntarily violate the principles that underpin our regional institutions and claim to want to preside over them".He added that the Eccas decision "should inspire other regional organisations to adopt a firmer stance against Rwanda".Rwanda has been accused of supporting M23 rebels in the east of DR Congo. The group has made major advances at the beginning of the year, taking the key regional cities of Goma and Congo's government, as well as the US and France, have identified Rwanda as backing the year, a UN experts' report said that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the Rwanda has denied the accusations saying instead that its troops were deployed along its border to prevent the conflict spilling over to its has once before, in 2007, left Eccas, whose mission is to foster co-operation and strengthen regional integration in central Africa. It rejoined several years reporting by Emery Makumeno You may also be interested in: What's the fighting in DR Congo all about?The evidence that shows Rwanda is backing rebels in DR Congo'We would vote for peace - if we had a vote' Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
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Rwanda quits Central African bloc in dispute with Congo
KIGALI, June 8 (Reuters) - Rwanda has said it would withdraw from the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), underscoring diplomatic tensions in the region over an offensive this year by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo. Kigali had expected to assume the chairmanship of the 11-member bloc at a meeting on Saturday in Equatorial Guinea. Instead, the bloc kept Equatorial Guinea in the role, which Rwanda's foreign ministry denounced as a violation of its rights. Rwanda, in a statement, condemned Congo's "instrumentalization" of the bloc and saw "no justification for remaining in an organization whose current functioning runs counter to its founding principles." It wasn't clear if Rwanda's exit from the bloc would take immediate effect. The office of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said in a statement that ECCAS members had "acknowledged the aggression against the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and ordered the aggressor country to withdraw its troops from Congolese soil." M23 seized eastern Congo's two largest cities earlier this year, with the advance leaving thousands dead and raising concerns of an all-out regional war. African leaders along with Washington and Doha have been trying to broker a peace deal. Congo, the U.N. and Western powers accuse Rwanda of supporting M23 by sending troops and weapons. Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces were acting in self-defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed around 1 million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration hopes to strike a peace accord between Congo and Rwanda that would also facilitate billions in Western investment in the region, which is rich in minerals including tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium. ECCAS was established in the 1980s to foster cooperation in areas like security and economic affairs among its member states.
