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| Kagame, Kabila meet to strengthen relations
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Gisenyi, Rwanda (PANA) -
Rwandan and Congolese Presidents Paul Kagame and Joseph
Kabila respectively were due
to meet Thursday as part of efforts to strengthen bilateral relationships betwee
n the two countries.
The meeting would begin at the border area between the two countries and continu
e in the Rwandan town of Gisenyi
(north-west), at the official inauguration of a factory built to extract gas fro
m the neighboring Lake Kivu, according to an
official statement.
In March 2007, Rwanda and DR of Congo decided to relaunch a common project to ex
ploit methane from the Lake to prevent
the concentration of the gas and the risks of explosion.
Lake Kivu contains some 55 billion cubic metres of methane that will serve as a
new source of energy in the sub-region.
During their talks, the two heads of state were expected to take stock of the is
sues of security in the region, according to Ms Rosemary
Museminali, the Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister.
It would be the first visit to Rwanda by a Congolese head of state since the two
countries broke off diplomatic relations in 2007, following the
regional conflicts that ravaged the Great Lakes region.
In January 2009, Rwanda and DR of Congo launched an unprecedented military opera
tions to track the combatants of the Rwandan Hutu
rebel movement of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda operating i
n eastern DR of Congo.
Sources said the Rwandan leader would present to his Congolese counterpart a pro
posal to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, who
recently exchanged Ambassadors.
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| Gisenyi - 06/08/2009 |
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