President Paul Kagame on Tuesday told foreign ministers from Britain and France that Rwanda would not pull its troops out of the Democratic Republic of Congo until its security concerns had been addressed. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and his French counterpart Hubert Vedrine arrived in Rwanda in a bid to accelerate the peace process aimed at ending the three and a half year war in neighbouring Congo. They appeared to have achieved little in terms of concrete progress but Straw said there was some forward movement. We did not expect easy or early solutions instead we expected we would be able to intensify the process. I think that is where we have got to Straw told reporters in Kigali after meeting Kagame. Straw had met Congo s President Joseph Kabila in Kinshasa on Monday. Progress had been made in the sense of a much greater understanding of the positions of both sides Straw added. The latest war in Congo broke out in August 1998 when Rwanda Uganda and later Burundi backed Congolese rebels seeking to oust then-President Laurent Kabila because of his support for Rwandan and Ugandan rebels. Rwanda accused the government in Kinshasa of supporting extremist Hutu militia known as Interahamwe and former Rwandan soldiers known as ex-FAR who carried out the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The Interahamwe and ex-FAR fled to what was then Zaire after slaughtering at least half a M million minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus in the 100-day killing spree. Zimbabwe Angola and Namibia poured troops and military hardware into Congo to support Kabila s government. A 1999 cease-fire agreement has gained momentum since Laurent Kabila was assassinated last year and his son Joseph took his place. Rwanda has been under mounting pressure from Western nations to pull its forces out of Congo but refuses to do so until the Interahamwe and ex-FAR have been disarmed. Vedrine said the ministers were focusing on what Congo and Rwanda could do to unblock the situation.

• published: 14 Sep 2013
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