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Rwandan Hutu rebels in DR of Congo pledge to disarm

Saturday, 31 January 2015 3:04 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 31 January 2015 3:04 AM ]

Rwandan Hutu rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (file photo)

Rwandan Hutu rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have vowed to disarm following a threat by the Congolese army to launch a fresh attack against them.

"The FDLR (the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) in their determination to continue to work for peace in the region... reaffirm their commitment to following the disarmament process," the rebels said in a statement released online on Friday.

On Thursday, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo -- or FARDC -- announced that a new assault will be carried out against the rebels.

FDLR rebels had been given until January 2 to turn themselves in or face an offensive by the UN and Congolese troops. The disarmament process began in June last year.

Some 83 FDLR rebels surrendered in early January in the face of the threatened assault, but nearly 1,500 to 2,000 others are expected to still be in the remote jungles of eastern DRC.

Some of the FDLR rebels are thought to have taken part in the notorious Rwandan genocide of 1994 which claimed the lives of at least 800,000 people, mainly from the Tutsi minority.

A large number of the rebels fled to neighboring DRC in fear of retaliation by Tutsi people, when Paul Kagame, the current president of Rwanda, ended the genocide in July 1994 and came to power.

Congo has faced numerous problems over the past few decades such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure and a war in the east of the country that has dragged on since 1998 and left over 5.5 million people dead.

MSM/AS/MHB

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