A group of about 100 Rwandan troops has been spotted inside the Democratic Republic of Congo in a first sighting by United Nations observers.
"Y'got one, Rupert!"
"I dunno, Jean-Claude! He coulda been Mozambiqui. Best hold off confirming."
"But there's hundreds of corpses lying around!"
"Only 'hundreds' doesn't qualify as genocide. Take your time. You're new to this, aren't you?" |
Thousands of civilians have been fleeing renewed fighting in the east. The Congolese say more than 6,000 Rwandans have crossed the border and are attacking and burning villages. Rwanda's president had threatened to send troops across the border to engage Hutu rebels inside Congolese territory who have not been disarmed. A UN spokesperson said a team of peacekeepers had seen about hundred soldiers, who they thought were Rwandan, near the border town of Goma.
| "Yup, those appear to be Rwandan soldiers, we'll have to get closer before we can......wow, look at the time! We're late for lunch. We'll come back tomorrow, or next week." |
"Infiltration is nothing new but this is something else, it has the appearance of an invasion," Monuc's chief in Goma, M'Hand Djalouzi, told journalists.
| "But it doesn't rise to the level of genocide, not by a couple hundred dead people, so don't worry about it too much." |
Last week, the UN warned Rwanda not to use military force, saying such a move could undermine international efforts to stabilise the region.
| "We're warning you! Invade your neighbor and you'll undermine international efforts to stabilize your region! And then where will you be? Riddle us that, hah?" |
Rwanda has consistently warned that it is prepared to take military action because of the threat it says is posed by the group which include fighters who took part in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. But some Congolese analysts say that the real reason behind Rwanda's threats is that President Joseph Kabila has recalled the governor of North Kivu province, based in Goma, who is from the Rwandan-backed RCD former rebel group. They say Rwanda wants to ensure it retains control of the border area. |