UN chief in Rwanda for talks on troop withdrawal threat

A UN Peacekeeper in DRC

A soldier from the Indian Batallion of the MONUSCO mans a post on September 4 in the village of Luvungi in northeastern Democratic Republic Congo. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Rwanda on Tuesday for surprise talks with President Paul Kagame, who has threatened to pull his country's troops out of international peacekeeping missions.

AFP - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Rwanda on Tuesday for surprise talks with President Paul Kagame, who has threatened to pull his country's troops out of international peacekeeping missions.
Rwanda has been infuriated by a UN report on neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, in which a preliminary version accused Rwandan troops and their allies of staging genocide style massacres of civilians in DR Congo in 1996-97.
A spokesman at the United Nations headquarters said Ban had arrived in Kigali for the unannounced visit and would hold immediate talks with Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo.
"Tomorrow morning he will meet President Paul Kagame," the spokesman said.
"The secretary general decided to visit Kigali to speak directly with the Rwandan President and other government officials about their concern regarding the Democratic Republic of the Congo Human Rights mapping report compiled by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights."
Ban was accompanied by Roger Meece, the UN special representative for DR Congo; Alain Le Roy, an under secretary general for peacekeeping operations; and Ivan Simonovic, assistant secretary general for human rights.
The United Nations last week delayed publication of its DR Congo report until October 1 to give Rwanda and other nations more time to comment on the contents.
A draft of the UN report, seen by AFP, said Rwandan Tutsi commanders and their rebel allies carried out systematic attacks on Hutus in DR Congo that resembled the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Following the leaking of the draft, Rwanda threatened to pull its peacekeepers out of international missions. The move would have a particular impact on the UN force in Sudan if the threat was carried out.
The United Nations has not publicly commented on the Rwandan threat, apart from saying that Rwanda's contribution is much valued.
According to UN figures, there were 3,485 Rwandan troops in the peacekeeping mission the troubled Darfur region of western Sudan at the end of July, and a further 143 in other missions.
The UN probe documented more than 600 incidents in DR Congo between 1993 and 2003 in which tens of thousands of people, mainly civilians, were slaughtered.
The UN leader will return to New York on Thursday, his spokesman said