{"id":31737,"date":"2022-12-17T16:40:49","date_gmt":"2022-12-17T16:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/ex-rwandan-deputy-mayor-captured-in-dr-congo"},"modified":"2022-12-17T16:52:58","modified_gmt":"2022-12-17T16:52:58","slug":"ex-rwandan-deputy-mayor-captured-in-dr-congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/ex-rwandan-deputy-mayor-captured-in-dr-congo","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Rwandan deputy mayor captured in DR Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>A former deputy bourgmestre (mayor) in northern Rwanda is among the combatants of the genocidal FDLR militia recently captured on the battlefield in eastern DR Congo.<\/p>\n

Jean-Damasce\u0300ne Niyonzima, who identifies himself as a pastor, was recently paraded by the M23 rebels after he was captured on the frontline backing the Congolese army, FARDC.<\/p>\n

In footage taken by the rebels and shared on social media platforms, Niyonzima says he was the deputy mayor of the former Kinyami commune (district) in the former Byumba prefecture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was deputy mayor from 1989 through 1994,\u201d he said in French.<\/p>\n

He fled to DR Congo in 1994 as the genocidal regime fell and the Rwanda Patriotic Front\/Army (RPF\/A) took power in the capital Kigali, effectively putting an end to the Genocide against the Tutsi.<\/p>\n

Niyonzima, who was paraded alongside several FDLR combatants sporting camouflage fatigue of the Congolese army, FARDC, wore a necktie, white shirt and brown suit, as he responded to questions from M23 military spokesperson Willy Ngoma.<\/p>\n

He said \u2018Lt Gen\u2019 Victoire Byiringiro remained the head of the FDLR militia, which formed an alliance with the Congolese army and other local armed groups against the M23 rebels.<\/p>\n

FDLR is a key factor in the strained relations between Kigali and Kinshasa, which Rwanda has accused of arming and collaborating with to shell the Rwandan territory.<\/p>\n

The Congolese government has counter-accused Rwanda of backing the M23, claims Kigali has dismissed.<\/p>\n

Successive Congolese regimes have maintained close ties with the FDLR since the 1990s, with the militia linked to growing rhetoric of hate speech and genocidal violence that have surged in particularly eastern DR Congo in recent months.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. A former deputy bourgmestre (mayor) in northern Rwanda is among the combatants of the genocidal FDLR militia recently captured on the battlefield in eastern DR Congo. Jean-Damasce\u0300ne Niyonzima, who identifies himself as a pastor, was recently paraded by the M23 rebels after he was captured on the frontline backing the Congolese army, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":31736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-31737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nEx-Rwandan deputy mayor captured in DR Congo - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A former deputy bourgmestre (mayor) in northern Rwanda is among the combatants of the genocidal FDLR militia recently ca ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/ex-rwandan-deputy-mayor-captured-in-dr-congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-Rwandan deputy mayor captured in DR Congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A former deputy bourgmestre (mayor) in northern Rwanda is among the combatants of the genocidal FDLR militia recently ca ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/ex-rwandan-deputy-mayor-captured-in-dr-congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-17T16:40:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-17T16:52:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1671282677.99.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"568\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/ex-rwandan-deputy-mayor-captured-in-dr-congo#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/ex-rwandan-deputy-mayor-captured-in-dr-congo\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ex-Rwandan deputy mayor captured in DR Congo\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-17T16:40:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-17T16:52:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/ex-rwandan-deputy-mayor-captured-in-dr-congo\"},\"wordCount\":291,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/ex-rwandan-deputy-mayor-captured-in-dr-congo#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1671282677.99.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/ex-rwandan-deputy-mayor-captured-in-dr-congo#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/ex-rwandan-deputy-mayor-captured-in-dr-congo\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/ex-rwandan-deputy-mayor-captured-in-dr-congo\",\"name\":\"Ex-Rwandan deputy mayor captured in DR Congo - 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