France seeks UN resolution naming Rwanda as backer of M23 rebels in DRC

M23's lightning advance into east DRC being supported by up to 4,000 Rwandan troops, say UN officials

France is seeking western support for a UN security council resolution that names Rwanda as being behind the M23 rebel group attacks inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including the surprise weekend seizure of parts of Goma, the largest city in eastern DRC.

UN officials said as many as 4,000 Rwandan troops were escorting the M23 rebels. The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, on Sunday called on the Rwandan defence forces to stop supporting the M23 and to withdraw from the territory of the DRC". It was his clearest statement of Rwandan responsibility for much of the violence.