200811062261 | Rwanda denies being a problem in the DRC

Rwanda denies being a problem in the DRC

Kigali - Rwandan President Paul Kagame accused the international community on Wednesday of shirking responsibility by insisting Kigali was contributing to chaos in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. "For me, it's a way of running away from the problem. I am not the leader of the Congo. How can I be of influence? Influence to do what," he told reporters in Kigali. Kagame confirmed he would attend an international summit on Friday in Nairobi to discuss the crisis in eastern DR Congo, which borders Rwanda.

"I'll be able to say what I have to say," he said.

Kagame's Tutsi-dominated administration has been widely accused of supporting a rebellion led by renegade Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda, who says he is fighting to protect his community from Rwandan Hutu rebels.

Rwanda has repeatedly denied the allegations.

"They are asking me the same old question and I am giving them the same old response," said Kagame.

Analysts say there is no doubt that Kigali, frustrated by Kinshasa's failure to disarm a Rwandan Hutu rebel group harbouring key perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against Tutsis, provides assistance to Nkunda.