DRC's ex-president Joseph Kabila dismisses US sanctions as "politically motivated"

Former Congolese leader Joseph Kabila has dismissed newly imposed US sanctions against him as "unjustified and politically motivated."

Democratic Republic of Congo ex-president Joseph Kabila condemned on Friday a US decision to sanction him for allegedly aiding Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who have seized swathes of the east of his country.

Washington's move was "profoundly unjustified, politically motivated and based on unsubstantiated accusations", Kabila said in a statement.

The government in Kinshasa said earlier on Friday it welcomed the sanctions as "an important step in the fight against impunity".

The United States blacklisted Kabila on Thursday, accusing him of providing "financial and political support" to groups that are "the principal drivers of violence and instability" in the Great Lakes region of central Africa.

Washington has already imposed sanctions on the DRC's neighbour, Rwanda, in an attempt to enforce an unsuccessful peace deal between the M23 and the Congolese government.

The peace accord, which US President Donald Trump announced with great fanfare in December, includes a provision for US industries to gain privileged access to the eastern DRC's vast mineral riches.

He said the US decision to blacklist him was "based on the narrative of the Kinshasa authorities, who have been unable to substantiate the accusations made against him".

The DRC government, by contrast, welcomed the US sanctions.

It said they had "operational implications" because they would restrict Kabila's alleged "capacity for mobilising finance" or "logistical support that could fuel and prolong the war."

Last year, a Congolese military court sentenced Kabila to death in absentia for treason for "complicity" with the M23 and its political branch, the Congo River Alliance (Alliance Fleuve Congo or AFC), which is seeking to oust DRC President Felix Tshisekedi.

The conviction effectively blocks Kabila from returning to Kinshasa to seek any political comeback.

The M23 has not reacted publicly to the US sanctions.