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S. Africa warns Rwanda rebel group of consequences for failing to disarm

Xinhua, January 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

South Africa has warned that military option might be inevitable after the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) failed to meet the deadline to disarm itself.

"South Africa reiterates that the FDLR has failed to comply with the 2 January 2015 deadline set by the Heads of State and Government of Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) for the FDLR to disarm voluntarily or face military action," the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said in a statement posted on its website on Monday.

The failure by the FDLR to meet the deadline "has therefore rendered military option inevitable," DIRCO spokesperson Clayson Monyela said.

The South African Government, he said, has taken note of the United Nations Security Council Presidential Statement on Thursday concerning the disarmament of the FDLR.

The statement warns the FDLR of the seriousness consequences for failing to disarm itself.

The deadline set by the SADC Heads of State and Government and ICGLR for the FDLR to disarm voluntarily or face military action expired on Jan. 2, 2015.

The total number of FDLR combatants who have disarmed since May 2014 stands at 337, representing approximately 24 percent of the FDLR's estimated total number of combatants.

A Joint Summit of Heads of State and Government of SADC and the ICGLR will take place on January 15-16 in Luanda, Angola to review the situation related to the voluntary disarmament of the FDLR and to decide the appropriate action following the expiry of the deadline that had been set.

South Africa is a troop contributor to the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), established by UN Resolution 2098 of 2013 and operating under UN command.

South African peacekeepers form the Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) under MONUSCO.

"We reaffirm our commitment to the objectives for which the FIB was established," Monyela said.

"As one of the Guarantors to the Peace Security Cooperation (PSC) Framework Agreement, South Africa will continue, individually as a country and as part of the continent and the international community, to work for lasting peace in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and the entire Great Lakes region," he said.

The FDLR is the primary remnant Rwandan Hutu rebel group fighting in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Endi