TRIAL BEGINS OF CENTRAL AFRICAN EX-PRESIDENT BOZIZE OVER WAR CRIMES. (PHOTO).

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 Trial begins of Central African ex-president Bozize over war crimes A UN-backed court in the the Central African Republic will on Tuesday begin the trial in absentia of former president Francois Bozize, over crimes against humanity committed between 2009 and 2013. The alleged crimes committed by members of Bozize's security forces include murder, enforced disappearance, torture and rape. Bozize, 79, who seized power in a 2003 coup before being overthrown 10 years later by rebels, has been living in exile in Guinea-Bissau since March 2023. But three of his former senior military officers, Eugene Barret Ngaikosset, Vianney Semndiro and Firmin Junior Danboy, are all in pre-trial detention in the Central African Republic. Crimes against humanity The case will be heard by the Special Criminal Court (SCC), a hybrid jurisdiction located in the capital Bangui with Central African and foreign judges. In February 2024, the SCC issued an international arrest warrant for the former president ...
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KAGAME DENIES ACCUSATIONS OF RWANDA'S INTEREST IN DR CONGO'S MINERALS. (PHOTO)

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 Kagame denies accusations of Rwanda's interest in DR Congo's minerals


Rwandan President Paul Kagame has said the country's tensions with the Democratic Republic of the Congo are not motivated by the exploitation of Congolese resources or a desire to seize territory.


In remarks at the opening of the annual national dialogue in the capital, Kigali, on Thursday, Kagame said: "The problem that Rwanda has with the Congo is mainly about the FDLR presence there, security threats, as well as the genocidal ideology."


The president was referring to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group active in eastern Congo whose elements are blamed for the genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group in 1994.


“It is not about minerals; that one is aside for sure...If we were really in the Congo for minerals, Rwanda would be a hundred times richer than it is today.”


Defiant stance


In response to threats of international sanctions over the Congo conflict, Kagame took a defiant stance, claiming that the international community is to blame for the region's decades-long conflict.


“You can’t create problems for me at the same time, come and blame me for these problems, and then start threatening me...,” he said.


Kagame mentioned that the conflict in Congo was neither started by Rwanda nor did it start from Rwanda, stressing that his country’s “defensive measures” are a response to persistent security threats from Congo.


M23 rebels have been at the center of the conflict in eastern Congo. The group controls significant territory in eastern Congo, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu, which it seized early in 2025.


Rwanda denies accusation by the UN of supporting the group.


Tshisekedi’s plea


DR Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi last year called on Kagame to end tensions between their neighboring countries, work together to make peace, and stop the violence in eastern Congo by directing the M23 rebels to end escalation.


He made the remarks at the second edition of the Global Gateway Forum organized by the European Union in Brussels.


But Rwanda's Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe, in reaction, then called the remarks “political theatrics, which have become ridiculous.”

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