27 December 2001
With prospects of rivalry between the armed forces of Rwanda and Uganda in North Kivu Province of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo still obtaining, the International Crisis Group has called on the UN and the international community to tell both parties that any recurrence of hostilities would lead to "sanctions with teeth, including immediate suspension of all bilateral and multilateral aid".
Despite four summits this year between the Rwandan and Ugandan presidents Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni, and the creation a joint verification committee, the Crisis Group said signs remained that the dispute could not be resolved by the committee's "impromptu visits" to alleged training sites.
"Personal rivalry - not only between the two presidents - and regional political leadership in East and Central Africa are involved," the Crisis Group said on 21 December. "Half a dozen determined military figures on both sides have the capacity to take their countries at least to the brink, and are under very little control by civilian institutions."
However, at a Kigali news conference on 19 December, Kagame said: "The tensions that existed between the two countries a couple of months ago have subsided. We will continue to work towards achieving a stable relationship, and even aim to make relations as good as they were some years ago."
The poor relations between the erstwhile allies "is linked to differing strategies on the management of the Congo war, regional leadership rivalries, and competition over Congo resources", the Crisis Group reported. This, it added, had resulted in three battles in Kisangani - in August 1999, March 2000 and May 2000 - in which at least 600 DRC civilians were killed.
The Crisis Group, based in Brussels, describes itself as a private, multinational organisation committed to strengthening the capacity of the international community to anticipate, understand and act to prevent and contain conflict. Its chairman is former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari. Former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans has been its president and chief executive since January 2000.
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