Bosco Ntaganda, an indicted war criminal commonly known as the “Terminator”,
led a Congolese
army mutiny in April. His M23 rebels used weapons and volunteers supplied by
Rwanda, according to the UN.
The bloodshed in North and South Kivu provinces led to at least 50,000
refugees entering Uganda and another 420,000 fleeing elsewhere. Britain,
one of Rwanda’s closest allies, has delayed sending £16 million in aid
while over the weekend, Germany became the latest country to suspend aid
until 2015 in what it said was an “unmistakable signal to the Rwandan
government.”
Rwanda has repeatedly rejected the allegations, accusing the report’s authors
of failing to verify their information or consult Rwandan authorities.
The M23 are Tutsi ex-rebels from the Rwanda-backed National Congress for the
Defence of the People (CNDP).
They were integrated into the regular army of the DR Congo in 2009 as part of
a peace deal that followed their failed 2008 offensive on the Nord-Kivu
capital Goma.
But the ex-rebels mutinied in April, demanding better pay and the full
implementation of the March 23, 2009 peace deal, and have been engaged in
running battles with loyalist soldiers in Nord-Kivu.
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