Rwanda anger at DR Congo mutiny charges

Rwanda's foreign minister has angrily denied reports that her country is backing an army mutiny in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

An unpublished report by UN experts has alleged that the Rwandan military has been supporting the mutineers.

But Louise Mushikiwabo said such allegations were endangering the safety of Rwandans in eastern DR Congo.

She made the comments during a visit to the UN and said Rwanda was urging rebels to negotiate rather than defect.

Tens of thousands have fled the recent violence in eastern DR Congo.

'Inflammatory'

The internal UN report seen by the BBC also cited defecting soldiers who said they had been trained in Rwanda under the pretext of joining the army, before being sent over the border to fight.

"Of course Rwanda's top army leadership in no way, and I'm very categorical about this, in no way would be involved in destroying the peace they have been working very hard to build," Ms Mushikiwabo told journalists in New York.

She said the allegations were already creating a dangerous climate for Rwandan citizens in DR Congo,where 11 men had been captured and beaten last week.

The foreign minister also expressed concern about inflammatory anti-Rwanda rhetoric in Congolese and other African media.

The Congolese government has written to the UN Security Council, demanding that the UN's evidence be published, and that it pressure Rwanda to halt any support for the mutineers.

Fragile truce

Diplomats say the US has sought a delay in publication to give Rwanda a chance to respond, but expect the information to eventually be made public.

They are concerned that the dispute might spell the end of the three-year truce between Rwanda and the DR Congo, which has helped maintain a fragile stability in the region.

The area has suffered years of fighting since 1994, when more than a million ethnic Hutus fled across the border into DR Congo following the Rwandan genocide, in which some 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, were slaughtered.

But the BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN in New York says there is no indication at this stage that the Security Council is ready to take any action against either party

Rwanda has twice invaded its much larger neighbour, saying it was trying to take action against Hutu rebels based in DR Congo.

The current mutiny is being led by fighters from Gen Bosco Ntaganda's former rebel group the CNDP, which was integrated into the Congolese national army in 2009 as part of a peace deal.

Known as the "Terminator" and wanted by the International Criminal Court, Gen Ntaganda has fought for various militias over the years and has told the BBC he has no involvement in the recent army mutiny.

-BBC