DR Congo and Rwanda sign pact to eliminate armed rebels

Addis Ababa, 16 Jul – (ANA) - The presidents of Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda yesterday backed a regional pact to eliminate armed rebels in eastern Congo, signing the document and holding rare face to face talks.

Along with other leaders from the Great Lakes region, Congo's Joseph Kabila and Rwanda's Paul Kagame put their signatures to an accord that foresees the creation of an international military force to take on multiple insurgencies in the eastern Congolese provinces of North and South Kivu.

Uneasy neighbours Congo and Rwanda, which have gone to war with each other in the past, have often swapped accusations about backing rival rebel groups, a charge that both Kigali and Kinshasa deny.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who also attended the Great Lakes meeting on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, described the atmosphere between the Congolese and Rwandan leaders as "excellent, amicable". "There was no fighting," Museveni joked to reporters. (ANA)

FA/ANA/16 July 2012--------