US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rwanda to discuss Congo tensions, human rights

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the President's Office in Urugwiro Village in Kigali, Rwanda, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. Blinken is on a ten-day trip to Cambodia, the Philippines, South Africa, Congo, and Rwanda. [AP]

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Rwanda on Thursday, the last stop on his three-nation tour of Africa where he has articulated Washington's new strategy for engaging with sub-Saharan African nations as "equal partners."

Blinken arrived in Rwanda at a particularly difficult time for Africa's Great Lakes region, with the small central African nation at odds with vast neighbour the Democratic Republic of Congo over allegations that both governments support rebels opposed to each other.