March 14 (Reuters) – Rwanda warned on Saturday that it was ready to withdraw its troops from Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, where they are helping to counter deadly insurgent attacks, if sufficient international funding for the mission is not assured.
The deployment in the gas-rich region in 2021, at Mozambique’s request, has helped to stabilise areas previously overrun by an Islamic-linked insurgency, Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said in a post on X.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the European Union’s support for the effort is due to expire in May with no plans for renewal.
EU officials in Brussels did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Makolo, referencing the Bloomberg report, said the sustainability of the deployment hinges on “adequate, predictable funding”.
“Should the RDF (Rwanda Defence Force) Command assess that the work being done by Rwandan Security Forces in Cabo Delgado is not appreciated, they would be right to urge the government to end this bilateral counter-terrorism arrangement and pull out,” she added.
RWANDA HELPED STABILISE GAS-RICH REGION
Rwanda’s Foreign Minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe, later echoed those comments in a post on X, saying Kigali was “ready to leave Mozambique if our efforts and achievements are not appreciated”.
The Mozambican government did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on Makolo and Nduhungirehe’s comments.
Nduhungirehe said Rwanda had invested heavily and lost soldiers to help stabilise Cabo Delgado and restore normal life and a key liquefied natural gas project, and should not face criticism, be vilified or sanctioned by countries that benefit from this progress. He did not name the countries.
Earlier this month, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Rwanda’s army and top military officials over their role in ongoing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Kigali has long rejected these allegations from Congo, the United Nations and Western powers that it supports the AFC/M23 rebel group in the DRC.
Rwanda has so far received about 20 million euros ($23 million) in EU support for the counter-insurgency mission in Mozambique, which Makolo said was a fraction of the cost being borne by Kigali. She said the effort had cost Rwanda at least 10 times that amount.
The insurgency in Cabo Delgado, which erupted in 2017, brought construction of TotalEnergies’ $20 billion LNG project there to a halt. In January, the French energy company and the Mozambican government agreed to resume construction of the project.
Security has improved in Cabo Delgado, particularly with the deployment of Rwandan soldiers around Total’s Afungi construction site, officials say. The Islamist insurgency, though weakened, continues to simmer.
($1 = 0.8760 euros)
(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla in Johannesburg, additional reporting by Philbert Girinema in Kigali; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Comments