The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met  Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Wednesday  to discuss the newly signed United Nations-backed accord aimed at stabilizing the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the context of bringing peace to the Great Lakes region.

The meeting was the first since the Secretary-General selected Mary Robinson as his Special Envoy to support the signatories in implementing the Framework.

According to his spokesperson, the Secretary-General and President Kagame agreed on the importance of working closely with Mrs. Robinson.

The meeting  also touched on matters concerning the International Criminal Court (ICC). Mr. Ban underlined the need for all States of the region to cooperate with the ICC, and welcomed the surrender of Bosco Ntaganda to the US Embassy in Kigali.

President Paul Kagame

The Congolese rebel leader is accused of being responsible for the use of children in armed conflict and acts of murder, rape and sexual slavery.

As a founding member of the M23 rebel movement, Mr. Ntaganda is believed to have recruited and used children as bodyguards, porters and for other purposes in last year’s rebellion in North Kivu province. These grave violations committed against children resulted in Security Council sanctions against him, including a travel ban and asset freeze.

By UP