The UN Security Council on Tuesday condemned reported military actions by Rwanda in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and demanded the country immediately withdraw any troops it may have in the DRC.

The council "expresses its very deep concern at multiple reports of military operations by the Rwandan army in the eastern part of the DRC and at the threats by the Rwandan government in this regard," said Council President Ambassador Abdallah Baali of Algeria in a statement.

The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC reported last week it had strong evidence that Rwandan forces had crossed the border into the eastern DRC, making threats by the Rwandan government that it would order attacks on Rwandan Hutu rebels based in the DRC.

The council statement described the presence of Rwandan Hutu rebels in the eastern DRC as "unacceptable" and demanded "they disarm and disband without delay, with a view to their repatriation or resettlement."

Rwanda's Hutu extremist militias, blamed for the genocide of Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994, fled across the border to the mineral-rich DRC, which was then embroiled in its own civilwar.

After ceasefire accords ended the DRC's civil strife, Rwanda withdrew its troops, but in July a UN expert group found that it was supporting dissident Congolese Tutsi military leaders in the eastern DRC.

In early December UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Rwanda to refrain from fighting in the Congolese territory after Rwanda had expressed intentions to attack the Hutu rebels.

In Tuesday's statement, the 15-nation council reiterated the Rwandan government's agreement, along with the DRC, Burundi and Uganda, to respect one another's sovereignty and to end the problems created by the rebels.

It called on all states in the region "to refrain from any action or statement that contravenes international law, underminesthe already fragile stability in the region, or the transitional process supported by the international community."

Source: Xinhua