The Democratic Republic of Congo's Information Minister said his government is aware that foreign influence is fueling conflict in his country.
Lambert Mende said, while the government of President Joseph Kabila has no reason to believe neighboring countries are behind the conflict, Kinshasa has dispatched its defense minister on a fact-finding mission to Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.
Mende's comments followed reports that heavy weekend fighting between Congolese troops and mutinous soldiers loyal to rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda forced to flee eastern Congo.
Mende said government forces are in hot pursuit of the rebels.
"What happened is that, during the five days of [a unilateral government] ceasefire, those renegade elements of Jean Bosco Ntaganda came back to surrender to authorities. But, this group is the last who refused that offer from the higher command to have them back to the barracks and, [while] trying to escape, they opened fire and we had no other issue but to follow them and stop them," he said.
Ntaganda and his group were once integrated into the Congolese national army under a 2009 peace agreement. But, they mutinied after complaining of a lack of pay, poor food and difficulties getting promoted.
Mende described as "rubbish" the claims of the rebels. He said they simply refused to be deployed anywhere else in the country except in their birth places in eastern Congo.
"They are refusing to be deployed to other provinces than where they had been born. And, we know of no army on this planet earth who can accept that soldiers can decide on their own where they want to be deployed. Suppose we have a war, when soldiers decide where they want to go, and then they can refuse to fight," Mende said.
Mende reiterated his government's belief of foreign influence in Congo's ongoing conflict. But, he said the Kabila government has dispatched its defense minister on a fact-finding mission to neighboring Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.
"We have no reason now to think that our neighbors are implicated in this situation, but, practically, we know that foreign interests are very much key to those mutinous rebels, not only in the neighboring Africa, but also from outside, those who are buying mining from those negative forces. They have interest to destabilize the situation so that they can continue with their business," Mende said.
He said his government is concerned about the thousands of Congolese who have fled the fighting into neighboring countries.
"We have something like 7,500 in Rwanda where our governor for North Kivu was sent by the President to see what is happening with them. And, we have 10,000 who escaped to Uganda and our government will send, I think tomorrow or [the] day after tomorrow, to see what is happening and to prepare their way back home," Mende said.
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