Pretoria - A renewal of conflict in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the potential to spiral out of control into full blown ethnic violence, an analyst has warned.
The relationship between the DRC and Rwanda, the cause of the conflict, originated after the genocide of 1994. It was then that 1.2 million refugees flowed over the Rwandan border into eastern DRC.
However, the Rwandan government now wants the Congolese government of President Joseph Kabila to expel Hutu refugees from the eastern region so that they can return to Rwanda to face trial for genocide crimes committed.
The North and South Kivu provinces are still a hive of illegal mining activity as Rwandan refugees, as well as locals, mine for diamonds and coltan. Coltan is a vital component for mobile phones, laptops and pagers, and the price of coltan increased 10 fold in 2000 which led to a "Coltan rush".
"The deployment of Angolan troops could, however, further escalate the conflict," Dr Sturman explained.