Almost 50 rebels opposed to the government in Rwanda have surrendered to authorities in less than a week, military sources in this northeastern town said Friday.
"More and more Interahamwe are surrendering because we are keeping constant pressure on them, especially in the Walikale region" of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lieutenant Colonel Imbabzi, the region's deputy commander, told AFP.
"Several hundred Interahamwe have already surrendered... This week alone, we had 22 here, four in Ruhengeri and 18 who should soon be coming from DRC."
"They surrender because of hunger, the fact that people no longer support them and that in the DRC they can no longer obtain supplies or organize themselves," the officer said.
An AFP journalist saw 22 rebels including five soldiers of the defunct Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) in a military camp in Gisenyi. They had earlier given themselves up to the army.
They all admitted belonging to the Rwandan Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Hutu extremist rebellion made up of members of FAR and the Interahamwe youth movement fighters responsible for the 1994 genocide.
The prisoners will be allowed to visit their families before being sent to so-called solidarity camps, where they be taught about Rwanda's history, the genocide as well as unity and reconciliation.
At the same time, they will be investigated as to their role in the genocide, during which between 500,000 and 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed -- GISENYI (AFP)
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