Rwanda has withdrawn all its soldiers from Congo and none have shed their uniforms to continue extracting minerals from the vast central African country, as the report charges, said Theogene Rudasingwa, a senior aide to President Paul Kagame.
In the report, released Monday, a U.N. panel accused Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Congo of using criminal groups to plunder the nation's mineral wealth.
The five-member panel said that even though Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe are withdrawing from Congo under recent peace deals, elaborate arrangements have been made to continue exploiting billions of dollars worth of diamonds, gold, copper and timber.
In parts of eastern Congo that Rwanda controlled, Rwandan businessman were put in charge of essential services, like water and transportation, before soldiers were withdrawn, the panel said.
"It simply recycles unsubstantiated accusations and blatant falsehoods," Rudasingwa said.
The five-member panel "has not set foot in Rwanda since we began withdrawing our troops from Congo," he said. "Yet ... it claims, without offering evidence, that we have left soldiers in Congo."
Ugandan Foreign Minister James Wapakhabula said his country had not taken part in any plunder. Rather, he said, the Ugandan army had been a source of stability in the areas it occupied, laying the groundwork for a peaceful withdrawal.
"The facts on the ground clearly demonstrate that the security situation in all areas where the (Ugandan army) has withdrawn ... is relatively peaceful," he said.
In parts of eastern Congo that Rwanda withdrew from, there has been heavy fighting between Rwandan-backed rebels and pro-government tribal fighters.
The war in Congo broke out in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda sent troops to back Congolese rebels seeking to oust then-President Laurent Kabila. They accused him of supporting rebels threatening regional security. Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia sent troops to support the government.
The panel recommended the Security Council consider place financial restrictions on 29 companies based in Belgium, Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda, and South Africa.
It also recommended that 54 individuals - including businessmen, military and government officials - face travel bans, a freeze on their personal assets and the same financial restrictions as the businesses.
Gen. Vitalis Zvinavashe, the chief of Zimbabwe's army and one of the individuals named by the panel, dismissed the report as "meaningless."
"No one in the world ... was happy with the assistance that we rendered the (Congolese) government," Zvinavashe was quoted as saying by The Herald, a state-owned newspaper. [End]
(pvs/mr)