Hundreds of Rwandan troops enter eastern Congo

[January 20, 2009]  KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- Hundreds of Rwandan troops entered eastern Congo on Tuesday in an effort to oust the Hutu rebels who participated in Rwanda's genocide.

The U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo estimated there were between 1,500 and 2,000 Rwandan soldiers in eastern Congo. Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende said the Rwandan forces arrived Tuesday morning.

Louise Mushikiwabo, the Rwandan minister of information, confirmed Rwandan troops had entered Congo and said all forces were under the command of the Congolese national army, known by its acronym FARDC.

"This is the result of recent intense and sincere efforts -- diplomatic, military and other -- by various stakeholders to bring peace and stability to the region," Mushikiwabo said.

"The government of Rwanda has played its part in a consistent and sincere manner. There is new momentum and the government of Rwanda is pleased the fundamental obstacle to stability for the last 15 years, i.e. the FDLR, is finally being tackled."

The two countries have agreed to step up efforts against the Rwandan Hutu FDLR militia in Congo, where they operate just over the border from Rwanda.

The Hutu fighters fled to Congo in 1994 after helping massacre more than a half-million Tutsis. They remain there untouched, heavily armed, and in control of lucrative mines in remote hills and forests.

Congo's ethnic Tutsi rebel leader, Laurent Nkunda, has used the threat they pose to justify carving out his own fiefdom in the mineral-rich east.

[Associated Press; By EDDY ISANGO]

Associated Press writer Tom Rippe in Kigali, Rwanda, contributed to this report.

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