Netherlands cuts Rwanda aid over alleged rebel support

Kigali, 27 Jul – (ANA) - The Netherlands has suspended an aid budget worth $ 6.15m (£3.9m) to Rwanda over its alleged backing of rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This comes days after the US announced it was cutting military aid to the country. Rwanda has rejected reports made by UN experts that it is supporting the M23 movement rebels in eastern DR Congo.

The rebels mutinied from the army in April and some 200,000 people have fled their homes as a result of fighting. The move comes as a senior UN official said that defecting Congolese rebels have confirmed that they were recruited in Rwanda.

On Thursday, the UN reported that its forces helped the Congolese army push the rebels out of two towns north of Goma using helicopter gunships and armoured vehicle. Eastern DR Congo has been plagued by fighting since 1994, when more than a million ethnic Hutus crossed the border into DR Congo following the Rwandan genocide, in which some 800,000 people - mostly Tutsis - died.

Rwanda has twice invaded its much larger neighbour, saying it was trying to take action against Hutu rebels based in DR Congo. Uganda also sent troops into DR Congo during the 1997-2003 conflict. (ANA)

FA/ANA/27 July 2012-----------