France says will defend DRC, accuses Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels
The government of France has reiterated its support for the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of Congo amidst the insurgency of the M23 rebels who France says are being supported by the government of Paul Kagame.
The accusations were made by President Emmanuel Macron’s emissary Anne-Claire Legendre in DRC’s capital Kinshasa and carried by the French Embassy in DRC.
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“France condemns the support of Rwanda to M23 and considers it unacceptable,” she said.
“We condemn Rwanda's support to the M23 group and ask that the Luanda and Nairobi processes be fully implemented,” she added.
She said that France has always defended and will always defend the integrity and sovereignty of RDC, urging that the process of the Luanda and Nairobi can be fully implemented.
France joins the US among countries that have openly accused Rwanda of interfering in DRC by supporting the M23, besides DRC president Felix Tshisekedi who said President Kagame is an “enemy of Congo” during a public ceremony.
“About Rwanda, it is useless to look at Rwanda as an enemy. No, it is the Rwandan regime, with Paul Kagame at its head, which is the enemy of the DRC” Tshisekedi said.
However, Kagame maintains that Rwanda is innocent, instead accusing Tshisekedi of exploiting the situation to delay presidential elections.
"This problem can be solved if a country that is heading for elections next year does not try to create the conditions for an emergency situation so that the elections do not take place," Kagame said.
