Rwanda-backed rebels could spark wider regional war, UN officials warn

Top United Nations officials in Africa warned an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that the offensive of Rwanda-backed rebels in mineral-rich eastern Congo is threatening peace in the wider region.

“It is imperative that this council takes urgent and decisive steps to avert a wider regional war," said Bintou Keita, U.N. special envoy for Congo.

The seizure of major cities in eastern Congo by the M23 rebel group in recent weeks and statements by key parties show that “the risk of a regional conflagration is more real today than ever before,” said Huang Xia, U.N. special envoy for Africa's Great Lakes region, which includes Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.

France’s U.N. Ambassador Nicolas De Riviere urged the council to quickly adopt a draft resolution circulated by his country two weeks ago that reaffirms support for Congo’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, urges an end to the M23 offensive and the withdrawal of Rwandan troops, and calls for the urgent resumption of talks.

“The risk of a regional war is increasing each day,” he said.

The M23 is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control of eastern Congo’s trillions of dollars in mineral wealth. The region is rich in gold and coltan, a key mineral used in consumer electronics like laptops and smartphones.

The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, over 1,000 miles away.

In a lightning three-week offensive, the M23 took control of eastern Congo's main city of Goma and seized the second largest city, Bukavu, on Sunday.

Keita, who also heads the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, told the Security Council that since then, the M23 has kept advancing, seizing the town of Kamanyola at the intersection of three borders — Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.

Congo’s Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner demanded the Security Council to order the immediate withdrawal of Rwandan troops.

“These forces have trampled on international law, brought death and devastation and violated our sovereignty,” she said.

Rwanda’s U.N. Ambassador Ernest Rwamucyo said “African leadership must drive the resolution of this conflict,” criticizing Congo’s president for seeking sanctions against his country from Western governments.

At this stage, the U.N. doesn’t know the M23 agenda, the intention of its backers or how far they will go and why, said Huang, the Great Lakes U.N. envoy.

“This situation must stop before we see the triggering of a widespread regional war, the consequences of which would be devastating” and undermine efforts over the past decade to bring stability to the central Africa region, Huang said.

The U.N. Human Rights Council this month launched a commission to investigate atrocities, including allegations of rapes and killings akin to “summary executions” by both sides.