Stop supporting M23, France tells Rwanda

The French Ambassador to Uganda, Mr Xavier Sticker, has said his government has received names of key actors in the Rwanda-backed M23 and FDLR-rebel group opposed to Kigali, and forwarded them to the UN sanctions committee for appropriate action.

Ambassador Sticker also urged Kigali to “cease all support” for M23 and “to withdraw from the Congolese territory” as war drums continue to sound in the restive eastern DR Congo, which borders Uganda to the west.

“France calls on all armed groups to put an end to the violence. Following their commitments, the armed forces of the DRC must cease all collaboration with the FDLR, a movement derived from the militias that committed the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994,” he said on Wednesday during interface with select journalists on France’s position on raging conflicts in Africa, Middle East, and Europe.

The French envoy said Paris “is very concerned about the situation” in the Goma and Sake townships in North Kivu province, where 135,000 civilians have so far fled since early last month, following heightened tensions.

Three Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc states—Malawi, South Africa, and Tanzania—mid-last month deployed troops in eastern DRC later in December to flush out the rebel groups.

A United Nations panel of experts, in September 2022, faulted Kigali for violating international sanctions by extending support including weapons and uniforms to the ragtag M23 group whose attacks have left a heavy trail of death and destruction. Rwanda continues denying backing the M23.   Ambassador Sticker further revealed the Emmanuel Macron administration’s plans to convene an international humanitarian conference for Sudan and its neighbours on April 15 to mobilise for more humanitarian aid for conflict-ravaged Sudan.

“The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has plunged Sudan into one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history,” he said.

The conflict has affected some 25.7 million Sudanese, with 18 million said to be on the brink of “acute food security” while 1.8 million have fled to neighbouring countries.

Commenting on the raging Israel-Hamas conflict, now entering into the sixth month, Ambassador Sticker rejected bundling of his country when calling out the Western states over double standards.

“I speak for France, I don’t agree with the notion that we apply double standards. And I don’t see how it could be stated that way,” Ambassador Sticker noted, saying his country has voted severally at the UN for a humanitarian pause, called out Israel for its disproportional use of force in Gaza, and publicly condemned Israel’s settler policy including sanctioning  28 settlers in the West Bank.

“There are so many countries that have not expressed themselves, at least not regularly. Let’s take the world map, even in Africa and see where the expressions are. And on that basis, we rank among those that are vocal but it’s not enough,” he said.  Israel, with the full backing of the US and its European allies, kicked off a vicious retaliatory campaign to “demolish” the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) following its surprise attack on October 7, 2023, on a music festival, south of the country, killing 1,139 people, injuring scores, and taking more than 200 hostage.

The Palestinian death toll since the campaign started, the Gaza Health ministry reported early this week, had hit 30, 000 while 70,325 have been injured.

Commitment

On Ukraine, Ambassador Sticker said France and Nato/EU are committed to supporting the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy administration to continue fending off Moscow’s invasion, now into the third year.