Belgium-based Rwandan opposition group proposes peace plan (IRIN)

    Brussels, 18 September: An ethnically mixed Rwandan opposition group
in exile, Igihango, has submitted a 10-point plan for the implementation of
the Pretoria agreement signed on 30 July by Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda
and Joseph Kabila of the DRCongo.

    Igihango claims to fight for reconciliation in Rwanda, through an
inter-Rwandese dialogue, which would eventually lead to a shared control
of power in the country.

    "Only the democratization of Rwanda could lead to peace in the
entire region, because the root of the problem is in Rwanda," Igihango
vice-president and former member of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front, Christophe
Hakizabera, told a news conference in Brussels. "The Rwandese government should free
the prisoners of conscience and liberalize political activities".

    Igihango comprises ex-Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) members,
combatants of the Forces democratiques de liberation du Rwanda (FDLR), the Alliance pour la renaissance de la nation (ARENA) and the monarchist movement Nation-Imbanga y'Inyabutatu Nyarwanda.

    It declared its commitment to disarming its fighters under the supervision of the UN,saying the Rwandan government should guarantee the repatriation of these combatants and the formation of a new army through merging the Rwandan Patriotic Army and Igihango forces.

BBC Monitoring Africa