In Summary
A government official last week said Zimbabwe will deploy troops in the DRC alongside other SADC countries to help President Joseph Kabila repel the M23 rebels that have seized a vast territory in the eastern part of the country.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe says his country will not be directly involved in the Democratic Republic of Congo conflict but will contribute soldiers to a joint Southern African Development Community (SADC) peacekeeping force.
A government official last week said Zimbabwe will deploy troops in the DRC alongside other SADC countries to help President Joseph Kabila repel the M23 rebels that have seized a vast territory in the eastern part of the country.
The resolution to deploy the 4,000-strong brigade was made at a regional summit in Tanzania a fortnight ago, but President Mugabe has come under fire at home for committing the troops without consulting his coalition government partners.
There is still widespread anger following the veteran ruler?s unilateral deployment of troops in 1998 where he intervened on behalf of his close friend and the current president?s father, the late Laurent Kabila.
But President Mugabe told the state-owned media while visiting Equatorial Guinea at the weekend that SADC and not Zimbabwe will shoulder the costs for the intervention.
?We have not deployed our troops in DRC,? he said. ?There is a standby brigade and people should have known by now that SADC has its standby brigade.
?It is not Zimbabwe alone going to DRC? that is the brigade which is there to take care of any nonsense by way of coup or revolt.
?It is Tanzania which is the commander.?
He said it was SADC?s duty to defend member states from revolts and coups.
President Kabila has reportedly refused to repay the $1 billion debt Zimbabwe says it incurred through lost military hardware during the 1998 intervention.
Nambia, which intervened alongside Zimbabwe and Angola to help thwart another rebel group backed by Uganda and Rwanda, says it will not contribute any soldiers to the SADC force this time around.
Regional powerhouse South Africa will also not provide troops but has promised logistical support.
Most Zimbabweans still blame the 1998 deployment of troops by President Mugabe for the collapse of the country?s economy.
Top Zimbabwean military commanders were also fingered in a United Nations report for their alleged involvement in the exploitation of DRC?s natural resources during the civil war.
DRC civil society groups early this year said Zimbabwean soldiers would not be welcomed back because of their track record.
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