In a speech, Kagame admitted to misleading CNN’s @LarryMadowo when he claimed to be unaware of the presence of Rwandan troops in eastern DRC, joking and laughing that he did so in fear of prosecution. “How would you prosecute an ignorant man?” Kagame quipped.

The remarks ended years of official denials in the face of overwhelming evidence that Rwandan military forces were aiding and participating in M23 rebel operations. It also followed public admissions of “security coordination” between Rwanda and M23 leaders in a statement from Rwanda’s ambassador to the United States.

Kagame claimed Rwanda’s interests in Congo are limited to security concerns. However, UN experts have long exposed Rwanda’s use of endless and exaggerated security concerns as a cover for military intervention and the plunder of natural resources, revealing the ways in which Kagame’s regime profits from enduring instability and chaos in eastern DRC.