Elysée Palace, Wednesday, October 9)
***
Three days before the opening of the Francophony Summit in Kinshasa, a
summit which the French president will attend, François Hollande
undiplomatically blasted the Kinshasa regime for its allegedly
"unaccepable" anti-democratic practices and Kigali for its
"aggression" on the DRC.
Hollande made those remarks at the joint press briefing he held with
Ban at the Elysée Palace on Tuesday, October 9.
After mentioning the two other subjects discussed at the meeting with
Ban--the situation in Mali (occupied by Al Qaeda-affiliated Islamists)
and in Syria-- President Hollande said [my translation]:
"The third subject we tackled is the meeting in Kinshasa, the
Francophony Summit, to which the United Nation pays a lot of
attention, since this organization is conscious of its interest, its
diversity, its cultural and linguistic plurality.
"Top level relationships exist between the International Organization
of Francophony and the United Nations.
"Besides, their objectives are the same: to allow conciliation, to
develop a democratic system, to nurture values, to give to culture its
due.
"But this summit will take place in Kinshasa, in the DRC, with two
concerns I personally have in mind.
"The first one is the situation in that country, which is absolutely
unacceptable in terms of the rights of democracy and of the
recognition of the opposition.
"The second one is the aggression that country is the object of,
stemming from abroad, along its borders, more particularly in the
Kivu.
"That's why I suppprt the operation engaged by the United Nations to
allow the protection of the borders of the DRC, which ought to be
reinforced if need be."
DRC Media Minister Lambert Mende brushed off Holland's nasty remark.
Mende claimed that President Kabila is a "true democrat."
Adding:
"If oppositionists--and I'm not only talking of big oppositionists of
the likes of Etienne Tshisekedi, but also even the most obscure
oppositionists--can call Kabila birds' names, it goes without saying
that President Hollande can also voice his criticism as a great friend
of the Democratic Republic of Congo."
Tomorrow, President Hollande will fly in to Kinshasa via Dakar, where
he is set to deliver a major speech on his vision of new relationships
between France and Africa.
The French president will also meet self-proclaimed president Etienne
Tshisekedi in the margins of the Francophony summit.
--(With elysee.fr; tv5.org; & Kinshasa media)--
***
PHOTO CREDITS: Reuters
Via: lejdd.fr
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