Washington, DC — "We are moving forward," declared Rwandan president Paul Kagame, comparing the current circumstances in the conflict-prone Great Lakes region of central Africa to the climate when he visited the United States two years ago.
Two years ago there was "hardly any movement" toward a settlement of the Congo conflict, he said. Now, with the signing of a peace deal in Pretoria, South Africa, the Lusaka Agreement and the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, there is "opportunity for the Congolese people to shape their own destiny."
Like Congo, Burundi is in better shape, said Kagame. Two years ago, the situation in the tiny but densely populated nation was "equally bleak". Today, however, the internal settlement reached via negotiations in Arusha, Tanzania is "working so far."
Though inclined to be optimistic, at least in his public stance, the Rwandan president outlined five "challenges":
- To persuade all sides in conflicts of the need for continuing negotiations and that peace is needed "for the benefit of our own citizens" not because of external pressure.
- To convince the international community that it "has obligations" especially because it has a history of "being good on paper, short on result" and has a history of "piecemeal and ham-handed" intervention that has left "bitter memories."
- To ensure that the "ideology of genocide," now "relocated to places near and far, establishing networks with the help of external actors... be fought and exhausted into extinction."
- To recognise that peace is not simply the absence of war and that democracy is "never a finished product... Preventive measures across national life" must be made and the Great Lakes region, and Africa in general, "must make a choice [that] the rule of law, not the rule of the jungle blossoms."
- To insist that while assistance from the rest of the world continues to be needed, "Africa must solve African problems."
Asked about charges that despite withdrawing its own troops, Rwanda backs anti-government militias inside Congo, Kagame denied it, attributing much of the continued violence in Eastern Congo to "tribal clashes."
Referring to persistent reports that Rwanda is backing a faction of the rebel Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC) in Ituri, Kagame acknowledged some association but said Uganda had far greater influence in the region and questions should be directed at that nation.
In any case, said Kagame, the "bigger problem" which is continuing conflict in the region "has unfolded over the last three years" and reflects the "lack of implementation" of agreement reached in Lusaka and Pretoria. One result of this, says Kagame is continued armed political conflict. "New groups are emerging," he said.
Tuesday Kagame briefed President George W. Bush and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice on the situation in the Great Lakes. He urged the U.S. government to put pressure on the Kinshasa government to fulfill its commitments under the Lusaka and Pretoria Agreements, according to a statement released by the Rwandan government afterwards. "The presence of the ex-FAR/Interahamwe genocidal militia in the DRC continues to pose a threat to Rwanda's security," he told Bush
Although Kagame has visited the United States before, this is his first visit at the invitation of President Bush, and "is based on a shared vision for peace, security and development in Rwanda and Africa as a whole," according to the government statement.
Mr. Kagame also met with Secretary of State Colin Powell, who he briefed on reforms introduced by Rwanda's government. Special emphasis was given to the democratization and constitution-making processes, and he also spoke about the referendum and elections planned for May.
While at the State Department Secretary Powell and Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Muligande signed a bilateral agreement that prevents the surrender of any U.S. citizen (or anyone who has ever worked for the U.S. military, including contractors) to the International Criminal Court.
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President Kagame has also met with Secretary for Defence Donald Rumsfeld, Treasury Under-Secretary Mr. John Taylor, US Trade Representative Mr. Robert Zoellik, the Administrator for USAID, Mr. Andrew Natsios and members of the US Congress.
According to the government's official itinerary, Mr. Kagame will also travel to Houston, Texas to meet with former US President George H.W. Bush and former Secretary of State James Baker, and to deliver an address at the Baker Institute. He will also travel to San Francisco, California to address the Commonwealth Club, and meet with the Rwanda Diaspora community and business leaders in Boston, Massachusetts.
In addition to the Foreign Minister, accompanying Mr. Kagame are the Minister for Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, Dr. Alexander Lyambabaje, and the Minister of State for Investment Promotion, Tourism and Cooperatives, Dr. Patrick Habamenshi.
