On January 25, 2005 the UN reported that Uganda and Rwanda were continuing to arm insurgent groups in eastern Congo, in violation of a United Nations arms embargo in the region. Both nations denied any wrongdoing, and the UPDF spokesman suggested that MONUC was useless and should be disbanded. Meanwhile, a meeting of African leaders in Abuja agreed to send more peacekeepers to the Congo and tasked with disarming the mainly Hutu rebel forces in an attempt to stem the escalating tensions. In response, a spokesman of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda stated on 2 February that the FDLR would resist with force any attempt to disarm it.[http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/VBOL-698CRR?OpenDocument The same day US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice welcomed senior officials from the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda to Washington, DC for talks aimed at easing tensions in the region.