By Lubunga Bya'Ombe
KINSHASA, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Rwanda's foreign minister said on Sunday better relations with Kinshasa could help tackle escalating violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which one militia chief has called a "state of war".
Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murigande told reporters after arriving in Kinshasa he would discuss strategies to improve security with Congolese leaders during his visit.
Over the last week, thousands of civilians in North Kivu province have fled fighting between Congolese government troops and soldiers loyal to renegade Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda. Both these forces have also been battling Rwandan Hutu rebels.
The conflict in the eastern province reflects the political and ethnic tensions behind Congo's 1998-2003 war, in which six neighbouring countries including Rwanda invaded the giant central African state to plunder its mineral wealth.
Congo's elections late last year under a post-war peace plan were won by President Joseph Kabila. They were intended to bring a lasting peace, but eastern rebels and militias continue to kill and plunder, despite the presence of a 17,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force -- the largest in the world.
Murigande said he hoped an improvement in Rwandan/Congolese relations could provide solutions to the security problems plaguing the east.
In North Kivu, this included the presence of the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). This is made up of former Rwandan soldiers and members of the Hutu militias, or Interahamwe, which took part in Rwanda's 100-day genocide in 1994 in which more than 800,000 people were killed.
"For a few years now, we've been trying to work together to see how they (the FDLR) can be disarmed, demobilised and chased out the Democratic Republic of Congo," Murigande said.
He added he would discuss strategies to achieve this with Congolese leaders.
Renegade Congolese Tutsi General Nkunda accuses Kabila's government of abetting his enemies in the FDLR.
He told the BBC on Saturday he considered a "state of war" existed in North Kivu and said his forces had captured FDLR fighters who were attacking them along with government troops.
Nkunda, who led a 2004 uprising in North Kivu to defend his Tutsi people, was quoted by the BBC as saying he could not support a government that was working with Hutus. The recent clashes between Nkunda's men and the Congolese army has shattered a January truce under which the general's Tutsi fighters were being integrated into the national army.
Rwanda had long accused Congo of arming and harbouring the FDLR, but Kinshasa has made efforts in recent years to expel the militia, prompting the resumption of diplomatic ties last year.
Murigande said Rwanda wanted to upgrade relations to ambassadorial level.
Security officials from Congo and its Great Lakes region neighbours, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi met in the Rwandan capital Kigali this week to discuss possible joint operations to stamp out the rebel groups and militias in Congo's east.
