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M23 Pushes Deeper in East DR Congo, UN Urges Rwanda Forces to Leave

A street seller carries goods on his head while searching for customers at a pirogue dock on the shores of Lake Kivu in Bukavu on February 21, 2025. (AFP)
A street seller carries goods on his head while searching for customers at a pirogue dock on the shores of Lake Kivu in Bukavu on February 21, 2025. (AFP)
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M23 Pushes Deeper in East DR Congo, UN Urges Rwanda Forces to Leave

A street seller carries goods on his head while searching for customers at a pirogue dock on the shores of Lake Kivu in Bukavu on February 21, 2025. (AFP)
A street seller carries goods on his head while searching for customers at a pirogue dock on the shores of Lake Kivu in Bukavu on February 21, 2025. (AFP)

M23 fighters advanced on several fronts in DR Congo's volatile east Friday as the UN Security Council for the first time called on Rwanda to stop backing the armed group and halt the bloodshed.

The M23 movement, supported by some 4,000 Rwandan soldiers, according to UN experts, now controls large swaths of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a troubled region rich in natural resources.

Its rapid advance has sent thousands fleeing. Fighters took control of the South Kivu provincial capital Bukavu last Sunday, weeks after capturing Goma, the capital of North Kivu and main city in the country's east.

Friday's unanimously adopted UN Security Council resolution "strongly condemns the ongoing offensive and advances of the M23 in North-Kivu and South Kivu with the support of the Rwanda Defense Forces."

It also "calls on the Rwanda Defense Forces to cease support to the M23 and immediately withdraw from DRC territory without preconditions."

The Security Council had previously called for an "immediate and unconditional ceasefire" by all parties, but on Friday all countries including the three African members pointed the finger at Kigali.

Recent gains have given M23 control of Lake Kivu following its lightning offensive in the east. According to the UN, the latest fighting has led to an exodus of more than 50,000 Congolese to Burundi, Uganda and other countries.

The European Union on Friday summoned Rwanda's ambassador to demand Kigali pull out troops from the country and stop backing the armed group.

In a call with Kenyan President William Ruto, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for an immediate ceasefire, saying there was "no military solution to the conflict", according to a State Department spokesperson.

Since the fall of Bukavu, the Congolese armed forces have been retreating without offering significant resistance.

"Almost no Congolese soldiers are fighting," an observer said Friday, adding that the "only ones still fighting are the Wazalendo" pro-Kinshasa militia.

The North Kivu city of Masisi and its surroundings "are the scene of almost daily clashes" between the M23 and Wazalendo, medical charity MSF said.

The M23 is now moving toward the town of Uvira near the Burundi border on the northwestern tip of Lake Tanganyika -- the main exit route for fleeing Congolese soldiers.

A source in Uvira's municipality said Friday the military commander had taken "measures to secure the population and their property, adding that "undisciplined elements had been arrested."

Residents told AFP that Uvira was engulfed in chaos, with hundreds of soldiers and their families crossing the town on foot to reach the port.

At least 423 inmates from Uvira prison have escaped and the bishop was robbed by armed men.

- 'If you hesitate, they shoot' -

On the northern front, which has been relatively stable since December, M23 fighters are just nine miles (14 kilometers) from Lubero, a strategic town.

Some Congolese soldiers have fled Lubero, but others were seen looting shops, according to local sources.

"The Congolese soldiers we met along the way robbed us of our phones, money and other belongings," said Aline Nyota, a displaced person who left Lubero to go further north.

"If you hesitate, they shoot."

The Congolese army spokesman in the region urged fleeing soldiers to return "to their authorities" and to "avoid looting, extortion and rape".

Traders in central Lubero have removed their goods and schools are closed. A relative calm returned on Thursday evening with the intervention of Ugandan troops deployed in the region as part of a joint operation with the Congolese army.

Analysts have questioned how the Ugandan army would react if it were to encounter M23 fighters.

Kampala is accused by UN experts of maintaining relations with the M23, while seeking to protect its influence in the area.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Friday denied his troops intended to fight the M23.

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French Far-Right Leader Marine Le Pen Is Barred from Seeking Public Office for Embezzlement

President of the parliamentary group of the French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party, Marine Le Pen arrives at the Paris courthouse for her trial verdict on suspicion of embezzlement of European public funds, in Paris, on March 31, 2025. (AFP)
President of the parliamentary group of the French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party, Marine Le Pen arrives at the Paris courthouse for her trial verdict on suspicion of embezzlement of European public funds, in Paris, on March 31, 2025. (AFP)
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French Far-Right Leader Marine Le Pen Is Barred from Seeking Public Office for Embezzlement

President of the parliamentary group of the French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party, Marine Le Pen arrives at the Paris courthouse for her trial verdict on suspicion of embezzlement of European public funds, in Paris, on March 31, 2025. (AFP)
President of the parliamentary group of the French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party, Marine Le Pen arrives at the Paris courthouse for her trial verdict on suspicion of embezzlement of European public funds, in Paris, on March 31, 2025. (AFP)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen strode out of a French court as the chief judge on Monday barred her from seeking public office after she was found guilty of embezzling EU funds.

The judge hasn’t yet said how long Le Pen will be ineligible for running for public office — a decision that could derail the far-right leader's career and infuriate her millions of supporters.

Le Pen didn’t wait around to find out. In a moment of high drama, the politician picked up her bag, slung it over her arm and strode briskly out of the courtroom, her heels click-click-clicking on the hardwood floor, leaving disbelief in her wake.

The chief judge looked up at Le Pen but carried on reading out the sentence.

Le Pen left the high-rise Paris courthouse without stopping to speak to reporters and climbed into a car that drove her away.

Earlier Monday, from the front row of the court, Le Pen showed no immediate reaction when the judge declared her guilty. But she grew more agitated as the proceedings continued. She repeatedly nodded her head in disagreement as the judge went into greater detail with the verdict, saying Le Pen’s party had illegally used European Parliament money for its own benefit. “Incredible,” she whispered at one point.

The judge also handed down guilty verdicts to eight other current or former members of her party who, like her, previously served as European Parliament lawmakers.

Le Pen and her co-defendants face up to 10 years in prison. They can appeal, which would lead to another trial.

‘A political death’ scenario  

The sentence, even if she appeals, could prevent her from running for president in 2027. She has described such scenario as a “political death.”

The verdict was shaping up as a resounding defeat for Le Pen and her party. As well as finding her and eight other former European lawmakers guilty of embezzling public funds, the court also convicted 12 other people who served as parliamentary aides for Le Pen and what is now the National Rally party, formerly the National Front.

The judge said Le Pen had been at the heart of “a system” that her party used to siphon off EU parliament money. The judge said Le Pen and other co-defendants didn't enrich themselves personally. But the ruling described the embezzlement as “a democratic bypass" that deceived the parliament and voters.

Le Pen and 24 other officials from the National Rally were accused of having used money intended for EU parliamentary aides to pay staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, in violation of the 27-nation bloc’s regulations. Le Pen and her co-defendants denied wrongdoing.

Le Pen has enjoyed growing support  

Le Pen, 56, was runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, and her party’s electoral support has grown in recent years.

During the nine-week trial that took place in late 2024, she argued that ineligibility “would have the effect of depriving me of being a presidential candidate" and disenfranchise her supporters.

“There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. So tomorrow, potentially, millions and millions of French people would see themselves deprived of their candidate in the election,” she told the panel of three judges.

If Le Pen cannot run in 2027, her seeming natural successor would be Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s 29-year-old protégé who succeeded her at the helm of the party in 2021.

Le Pen denied accusations she was at the head of the system meant to siphon off EU parliament money to benefit her party, which she led from 2011 to 2021. She argued instead that it was acceptable to adapt the work of the aides paid by the European Parliament to the needs of the lawmakers, including some political work related to the party.

Hearings showed that some EU money was used to pay for Le Pen’s bodyguard — who was once her father's bodyguard — as well as her personal assistant.

Prosecutors requested a two-year prison sentence and a five-year period of ineligibility for Le Pen.

Le Pen said she felt they were “only interested” in preventing her from running for president.