U.S. Asks Rwanda to Stop Backing Congo Rebels as Fighting Flares Up - WSJ

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U.S. Asks Rwanda to Stop Backing Congo Rebels as Fighting Flares Up

 
  By Nicholas Bariyo 

KAMPALA, Uganda--The U.S. government has asked Rwanda to end its support of M23 rebels in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo following days of intense fighting near the flashpoint border city of Goma which has heightened tensions along the common border.

It marks the second time this year that the U.S. is openly asking Rwanda to stop meddling in eastern Congo, underscoring Washington's growing frustration with Kigali, long accused of sponsoring violent insurgencies in the mineral-rich but restive nation.

The State Department condemned M23 rebel attacks on United Nations peacekeepers as well as attacks on civilians in Goma that killed at least three people over the weekend.

"We urgently call on the DRC and Rwandan governments to exercise restraint to prevent military escalation of the conflict or any action that puts civilians at risk," a State Department spokeswoman said in a statement Sunday.

"We reiterate our call for Rwanda to cease any and all support to the M23 and to respect the DRC's territorial integrity," she added.

Fighting erupted in the middle of last week after M23 rebels shelled Goma, killing several civilians. The UN peacekeeping mission, authorized in March to take on armed groups in the country, fired at M23 rebel positions Friday and has since been battling to push the rebels out of Goma's security zone to minimize threats to civilians.

The Rwandan government has accused the Congolese army of deliberately shelling its territory along the border in the past few days, a charge denied by the Congolese government. The accusations are threatening to ignite long-standing tensions along the border reminiscent of the conflict in the 1990s, when Rwanda invaded Congo ostensibly to hunt down rebel dissidents, triggering a large-scale war that later drew in several neighboring countries and culminating in the mass plunder of Congolese resources and the death of more than 5 million people.

The M23 rebel group is made up of mainly Congolese Tutsi former rebel fighters who were integrated into the national army under a 2009 peace accord. They mutinied in April 2012, accusing the government of reneging on the deal.

Write to Nicholas Bariyo at nicholas.bariyo@dowjones.com