African leaders to meet on action to disarm Rwandan rebels in DR Congo

Southern African leaders are to meet later this month in Luanda, Angola to decide on an action to disarm Rwandan rebels based in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

This comes after an ultimatum for the rebels to surrender expired.

Heads of state and government of the Southern African Development Community, SADC and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region will meet on January 15 and 16.

The deadline set by African leaders for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwandan rebel group, to disarm voluntarily or face military action expired on January 2.

South African President, Jacob Zuma, who acts as the chair of the SADC security arm, says only 337 rebel fighters have disarmed since May 2014, who represent approximately 24 percent of the FDLR's estimated total number of combatants.

The FDLR is the primary remnant Rwandan Hutu rebel group fighting in the eastern part of the DR Congo. Some of its fighters are accused of having played a part in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.

Xinhua