DR Congo President Etienne Tshisekedi on Wednesday, September 20, met in New York, with a group of self-exiled Rwandans headed by fugitive Eugene Richard Gasana, The New Times has learnt.
The "private meeting" took place at the Peninsula Hotel on 5Av, 55St W in New York, a reliable source confirmed, adding that it was also attended by DR Congo's First Lady Denise Tshisekedi and others in the same clique like Charles Kambanda.
"This meeting follows another one previously held at the Presidential Palace in Kinshasa on May 22, 2023 that discussed uniting Rwandan negative groups to overthrow the Government in Rwanda," added the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Tshisekedi is in New York for the 78th United Nations General Assembly.
"By meeting Gasana, Tshisekedi is staying true to his word," noted an observer.
The agenda of the meeting, the source added, "and other previous engagements have only been about uniting Rwandan fugitives to support armed groups in DR Congo against Rwanda."
"It would not be a stretch of imagination to come to the conclusion that Tshisekedi and the group he continues to meet are up to no good," noted a US-based activist advocating for the rights of Rwandophones in DR Congo.
"While the UN General Assembly provides a platform for the world to solve critical issues, like insecurity, for the DR Congo President, the latest session was an opportunity to wage war and perpetrate more hate to his own compatriots and their neighbour, Rwanda," said an observor.
For instance, the observor added, "upon landing in New York, the Congolese head of state did not waste any time declaring his plans on how he intends to prolong the insecurity in his country, and preferably extend it to Rwanda, with pretext that Rwanda is the source of insecurity in eastern DR Congo."
Asked about the M23 rebels in New York early this week , Tshisekedi said that it's a group of criminals who embarked on an adventure led by the President of the Republic of Rwanda. "That's why we have strengthened our capabilities, and I can say today that we are capable of facing any adversity coming from that country (Rwanda). So, we will not give up; we will continue to defend our country, and I do not exclude any scenario to defend this country," declared Tshisekedi.
According to several media reports, there are European mercenaries operating alongside the Congolese army in North Kivu Province for over a year.
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"The mercenaries, who are estimated at 2,000 in number, also train DR Congo's incompetent soldiers in the use of collective weapons, and heavy machine guns," said one source. "Additionally, Kinshasa has acquired three CH-4 combat drones, worth $150 million, from China."
"All of these war moves by Kinshasa", the source said, "are made while the world, the continent, and the region are invested in finding concrete solutions to the insecurity crisis. The Luanda, Nairobi and Bujumbura peace initiatives, have all been focused on helping the country - and the region - attain peace."
Part of the Nairobi-Luanda peace process is a ceasefire for all armed groups, an initiative Kinshasa ignored, and, instead, resorted to recruiting and supporting negative armed groups.
In October 2022, a Human Rights Watch report pinned the Democratic Republic of Congo's army, FADRC, on supplying arms and ammunitions to the FDLR terrorist group. The latter was formed by remnants of the Rwandan génocidaires who masterminded the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, before fleeing into eastern DR Congo, formerly Zaire.
Close to a year after the HRW report, Tshisekedi is still cooperating with, and aiding the génocidaires.
"Since early August, he instructed his top military commanders to supply the genocidal militia group with heavy weapons so they can revive the chaos, which had been hushed by the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF)," a source said.
