Wednesday, 10 October 2012

French Prez blasts Kinshasa & Kigali in front of Ban Ki-moon

(PHOTO: UNSG Ban Ki-moon and French Prez François Hollade at the

Elysée Palace, Wednesday, October 9)



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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)--



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PHOTO CREDITS: Reuters

Via: lejdd.fr

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