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Koenders suspends budget support to Rwanda

In response to a UN report on the violation of the embargo on supplying arms to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), development minister Bert Koenders has decided to suspend Dutch budget support to Rwanda.

According to the report, there is reason to suspect both the Congolese and the Rwandan armies of involvement with the rebel militias that are fighting each other in eastern DRC.

Mr Koenders, who visited eastern DRC and Rwanda and met with government officials of both countries last month, had previously warned Rwanda that Dutch budget support

(€3 million in 2008) would be suspended if the country was found to be violating the arms embargo. 'I am gravely concerned about the provisional conclusions of the UN report. I shall do what I can, through my contacts with both governments, to end the support to rebel militias in eastern Congo,' Mr Koenders said.

Mr Koenders said it was hopeful that the two governments were talking and expressed his support for the negotiations taking place under the chairmanship of UN special envoy Olusegun Obasanjo. Mr Koenders will shortly be revisiting the region to help move the peace process forward.

Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken
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2500 EB Den Haag
Tel.: 070-3 486 486
Fax: 070-3 484 848
Internet: www.minbuza.nl