Rwanda rejects US calls for withdrawal of missiles and troops from eastern Congo

Authorities in Rwanda on Monday rejected U.S. calls for the withdrawal of troops and missile systems from eastern Congo, saying they are defending Rwandan territory as Congo carries out a “dramatic military build-up” near the border.

Authorities in Rwanda rejected U.S. calls for the withdrawal of troops and missile systems from eastern Congo, saying they are defending Rwandan territory as Congo carries out a "dramatic military build-up” near the border.

Rwanda's Foreign Ministry in a statement spoke of threats to Rwandan national security stemming from the presence in Congo of an armed group whose members include alleged perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.

The rebel group, known by its initials FDLR, “is fully integrated into" the Congolese army, the statement said.

Although Rwanda has long cited a threat posed by FLDR, authorities there had never admitted to a military presence in eastern Congo, whose authorities accuse the tiny central African country of actively supporting the violent armed group known as M23.

The U.S. State Department in a statement Saturday criticized the worsening violence caused by M23, describing it as a “Rwanda-backed” armed group. That statement also urged Rwanda “to immediately withdraw all Rwanda Defense Force personnel from the (Congo) and remove its surface-to-air missile systems."

The U.S. statement represented “an abrupt shift in policy, or simply a lack of internal coordination,” causing Rwanda to "question the ability of the United States to serve as a credible mediator” in Africa's Great Lakes region, the Rwandan Foreign Ministry said.

U.N. experts previously said they had “solid evidence” that members of Rwanda’s armed forces were conducting operations there in support of M23.