Oh, damn.
Rwanda Says Congo Troop Build Up 'Hostile Act'
Mon Jun 21, 2004 07:26 AM ET
By Finbarr O'Reilly
KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda said Congo's troop build-up near its border was a "hostile action" and vowed to defend itself against its giant neighbor.
"From this side of the border it is a hostile action," Rwandan army spokesman Patrick Karegeya said on Monday. "We look at it in the historical context of the region."
Rwanda has twice invaded Congo, in 1996 and 1998, backing Congolese rebels to hunt down Hutu extremists responsible for the 1994 genocide who Rwanda said posed a threat to its borders.
Military and diplomatic sources say Kinshasa has flown up to 10,000 government troops to eastern Congo in the past week.
The troop movements near the Rwandan and Ugandan borders follow a week-long insurgency in the strategic eastern town of Bukavu earlier this month which Congo's President Joseph Kabila said was backed by Rwanda.
Diplomats say some in Kinshasa fear another Rwandan attack.
