A group of Rwandan rebels, accused of massacring Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda in 1994, acknowledged Thursday for the first time that genocide had occurred and agreed to halt military attacks against Rwanda from their hideaways in eastern Congo.
The statement, by the leadership of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, was in Rome. In Rwanda, reaction to the declaration was reserved.
"If they said it, it is a good thing," Richard Sezibera, a senior adviser to President Paul Kagame, told reporters. He said the fighters must hand in their weapons to demonstrate they mean what they say.
Rwanda sent troops into Congo in 1996 and 1998 to root out the predominantly Hutu rebels. The incursions prompted a vicious war that eventually drew in six countries. In recent months, citing border attacks by the rebels, Kagame has threatened another foray.
The Hutu rebel group, which Kagame says is the instigating force and which is known by its French initials, FDLR, has long refused to label the killings in Rwanda genocide. Members have contended that many Hutu were killed by Tutsi soldiers during the fighting in 1994, making the events there more confused than they are portrayed.
But in a statement after talks organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio, a religious group promoting peace, the rebels said they "condemned the genocide committed in Rwanda and its authors."
The statement said the rebels decided "to transform their armed struggle into a political one" by disarming and ending attacks. "From this moment on, the FDLR announces that it will refrain from any offensive operation against Rwanda," group leader Ignace Murwanashyaka said.
Congolese officials who took part in the talks trumpeted the accord as a sign that the government of President Joseph Kabila was committed to bringing peace to Congo as well as calming tensions with Rwanda.
"This is a big step toward peace in the region," said Antoine Ghonda Mangalibi, a former Congolese foreign minister who is now a roving ambassador for Kabila. "It's an unbelievable development."
RSS