State Department spokeswoman, Darby Holladay in a statement said in the light of the information, it had been decided that Foreign Military Financing (FMF) appropriated in the current fiscal year to Rwanda could no longer be provided, the AFP news agency said. She added that although the amount that was originally allotted to a Rwandan military academy will be reallocated to another country, the United States will continue to provide assistance to Rwanda to enhance its capacity to support peacekeeping missions.
Reacting to the announcement on Sunday, the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo said the US decision was based on what she termed incorrect, bad information and wrong facts, the Daily Nation of Kenya said. She added that Kigali respects the rights of its development partners, adding that her country had made it clear from the outset that it is neither the cause nor enabler of instability in eastern DRC.
Mushikiwabo announced that Rwandan officials will meet with a UN panel in Kigali later this week to discuss the group's findings on the conflict in eastern DRC. In the meantime, she said, Kigali will work with regional partners to implement a new initiative to patrol the Rwanda-DR Congo border to curb rebel activities.
Observers say though the amount of suspended aid is largely symbolic, the move sends the message that Rwanda's staunch ally now believes that the government in Kigali is destabilising the region by supplying DRC rebels. A recent UN report accused Rwanda of backing the rebels but it denies the allegations. Congolese rebels who took up arms in April named themselves "M23" after a failed peace agreement signed with the DRC government on March 23, 2009.
