Rwanda: Enter The Americans And Chinese

Archives

December 14, 2010: American trainers from Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTFHOA) have been conducting a five-week long training course for the Burundian Army (Burundian National Defense Force, BNDF). The course is aimed at battalion commanders and staff officers who will lead peacekeeping operations. The course includes familiarization with NATO doctrine and wargaming methods to examine potential courses of action.

December 11, 2010: Instructors from Great Britain have been teaching military English at the Rwandan Military Academy, where 61 soldiers recently completed the one-month long course. The English language skills are useful in peacekeeping operations, particularly in Darfur where Rwandan troops serve with UNAMID. The Rwandan government has also stated that over the long term it believes Rwanda's economic and political future lies with its east African neighbors Uganda and Kenya, nations which were once British colonies and which use English as a common language.

December 10, 2010: The Rwandan government released an new archive documenting the 1994 genocide. The archive includes extensive video footage as well as witness statements.

December 8, 2010: The Burundi government believes that reports of Burundi rebels organizing new guerrilla forces in the eastern Congo have been exaggerated. The UN believes that a faction of the National Liberation Front (FNL) had been recruiting fighters in the eastern Congo. The obvious concern is that the FNL faction would launch a new civil war in Burundi. The FNL is a political party in Burundi, but there are major fissures in FNL leadership. One of the alleged rebel faction leaders, Agathon Rwasa, recently said he and his group had renounced war. However, Rwasa's name has cropped up in the reports of rebel activity in eastern Congo. Rwasa left Burundi this past summer after accusing the government of rigging elections. There is suspicion that 400 FNL fighters are operating from a base camp in the Congo (South Kivu province) near the Burundi border.

December 3, 2010: The UN Security Council froze the financial assets of three key leaders in the Rwandan Hutu rebel organization, the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), along with travel bans. The FDLR is involved in the sale of minerals illegally mined in the eastern Congo. FDLR commanders are also involved in weapons smuggling, and not just to FDLR militias.

November 30, 2010: Opposition political parties in Burundi have asked the government to end what they call official and unofficial attempts to suppress them. The opposition groups have reorganized their umbrella group, the Democratic Alliance for Change. The appeal comes amid reports that former Burundi Hutu guerrillas now in the eastern Congo are seeking weapons and new recruits.

November 24, 2010: Where is former Congolese Tutsi rebel general Laurent Nkunda? He is still not in jail in the Congo. The Congolese government recently reminded Rwanda that it had promised that Nkunda would face trial in the Congo. However, he continues to remain in detention in Rwanda. Rwandan political opposition leaders say that Nkunda will not be released because of what he may say about the Rwandan government's involvement in the eastern Congo.

November 6, 2010: The Congolese military reported that two Congolese civilians were killed by suspected members of the Burundian FNL in the town of Kiliba. The incident occurred in South Kivu province near the Burundi border as the rebels sought to free two men arrested by the Congolese Army.

October 31, 2010: Rwanda and China have agreed to increase military cooperation. China will help Rwanda construct a floating dock to help support military operations in central Africa's Great Lakes region.