President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Joseph Kabila has delayed to confirm Juru Munyakazi, the Rwandan envoy designate to Kinshasa, Rwanda's state-owned newspaper The New Times reported Saturday.

Early last month, the government of Rwanda appointed Munyakazi,a former businessman to the Kinshasa mission. But according to well-placed sources, the DRC government has not confirmed his credentials.

Protais Mitali, state minister for regional cooperation, was quoted as saying that the DRC had up to now not confirmed the Kigali envoy. "We are still waiting for a replay from them. There are modalities to take. They can confirm or refuse him."

Relations between the two countries went sour since 1998 when Rwandan troops entered the DRC to flash out against Interahamwe rebels who were being harbored by the Kinshasa government.

Rwandan troops however withdrew from the DRC more than two years ago under the Pretoria agreement.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame recently told the press that genocide suspects and armed militias are still in the DRC and intending to destabilize Rwanda. "They are being helped by some individuals in the (DRC) government. But that does not prevent us from wanting to create some diplomatic relations."

More than 200 Interahamwe rebels attacked a village last week but according to military sources, the rebels were repulsed and 16of them were killed. There were no casualties on the government side.

Source: Xinhua