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Central and Eastern Africa: IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 22 covering the period 29 May-4 June
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Government forces bomb Uvira again
Despite expressions of support for the peace process and offers of ceasefires, fighting broke out again on several fronts in DRC over the week.
Late on Wednesday, government forces bombed the eastern town of Uvira, causing damage to houses, humanitarian sources in the area told IRIN. The sources said bombs were also dropped on the Kahuzi Biega national park, near Bukavu. The intended target was probably the airport which is located close to the park. No injuries were reported there, but in Uvira they said four people were wounded. They could not confirm reports by Rwandan government spokesman Major Wilson Rutayisire that three people had been killed. Rutayisire said the bombing - the second after government forces dropped bombs on the town last month - was a "violation of our good faith ceasefire proposal". As a result, Rwanda's declaration of unilateral ceasefire "no longer holds", he said.
Rwanda had declared a unilateral ceasefire in the DRC and said it had come into effect at midnight local time. In comments broadcast by Rwandan radio on Saturday, Foreign Minister Amri Sued Ismael explained the move was taken to improve the chances of a negotiated and comprehensive peace deal. He denied it stemmed from a rift with Uganda over policy in the DRC. Uganda hailed the offer as a sign of goodwill.
On Tuesday, the leaders of Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania met in Dar es Salaam to discuss the DRC conflict. Rwandan radio described the mini-summit as a follow-up to a recent meeting between the three countries in Dodoma, Tanzania. Rwandan Minister in the President's Office Patrick Mazimhaka said they discussed the crisis within the RCD, but stressed the leaders felt progress had been made. Sources close to the talks suggested to IRIN on Wednesday that Tanzania - which favoured neutrality in the DRC issue - has come out in support of ousted RCD leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, a close colleague of former Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere.
Kalemie under RCD control, fighting reported in Mboko
The Katangese town of Kalemie is firmly under the control of the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD), sources in the area told IRIN. The DRC government had earlier claimed to have recaptured the town. The sources also reported heavy fighting involving Mayi-Mayi warriors in the Mboko area, some 60 km south of Uvira.
The missionary news agency MISNA on Wednesday reported the movement of military trucks at Rwanda's Ruzizi border point with Bukavu in eastern DRC. It claimed Rwandan soldiers were being trucked daily into eastern DRC, and upon arrival in Bukavu were dividing into two convoys: one northwest towards Bunyakiri and the other southwest in the direction of Walungu. The agency also claimed DRC government forces launched an attack on the town of Shabunda, some 270 km west of Bukavu, on Tuesday night.
Support for Sirte accord reaffirmed
Earlier in the week, both Uganda and DRC had reaffirmed their commitment to the Sirte accord, signed by the countries' two leaders in Libya in April. A joint statement, issued in Kampala at the end of talks between Ugandan State Minister for Foreign Affairs Amama Mbabazi and DRC Justice Minister Mwenze Kongolo, also stressed their commitment to the ongoing Lusaka peace process, Ugandan radio reported. They agreed to set up a committee of experts to work out the practical implementation of the accord, with Uganda taking on the role of encouraging both the armed and unarmed opposition in DRC to take part in DRC government initiatives aimed at democratisation. Under the agreement, most of the troops Chad sent to the ocuntry last year returned home this week after transiting Central African Republic. The withdrawal of about 2,000 troops began on 26 May.
Minister denies MIG fighters downed
DRC Deputy Defence Minister Major Dieudonne Kayembe Bandankulu has denied Rwandan reports that two Zimbabwean MIG fighters were downed during recent fighting at Eshimba and Manono in Katanga province. DRC state television said he told a news conference on Tuesday that a reconnaissance aircraft was lost on 23 May.
"Dramatic" increase in DRC refugees
The reported surge in fighting between Mayi-Mayi warriors and the RCD in eastern DRC has caused a dramatic increase in the number of Congolese fleeing across Lake Tanganyika to Tanzania, UNHCR says. Over 4,800 new arrivals have been registered in Kigoma since 25 May. Refugees told UNHCR officials the Mayi-Mayi had stepped up attacks on villages in South Kivu and were warning residents to leave the area. Battles for the town of Baraka in particular were "ruthless and destructive", the refugees added.
RCD explains changes and divisions
The RCD has clarified the recent changes within the movement. In a press release, received by IRIN on Thursday, it noted that former leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba was removed by a 66-strong convocation of RCD founders because of a "series of crises" brought about by his leadership style. These included "aggravating incipient divisions" and "decamping to Kisangani without valid reason where he remained incommunicado". The statement said that while in Kisangani, Wamba created a new institution - the General Secretariat of the RCD - and surrounded himself with a private military faction which was not under the control of the RCD military command. Wamba's actions, the statement claimed, "are directly attributable to the subsequent tensions between the RCD military and our Ugandan brothers and allies in Kisangani".
However, it stressed that the RCD still regarded Wamba as a "loyal Congolese of integrity and dedication...and a valuable member [of the RCD]". The RCD had reorganised itself so that structures were more efficient, adaptable and less personalised, the statement said. There was now a Congress, a Council and an Executive with the latter two headed by the same person, the new RCD leader Emile Ilunga. In the past, each institution had been headed by different people. The Assembly no longer existed.
The statement ended by listing conditions for a cessation of hostilities in the DRC, including the "clear identification of the belligerents as the RCD and the Kinshasa government". Foreign forces must be withdrawn and the "fascist and genocidal forces" mobilised by President Laurent-Desire Kabila "neutralised". The statement also called for a government of national unity.
RCD "Assembly" faction behind Wamba
Meanwhile, the RCD "Assembly" - now in Kisangani - issued a statement saying the RCD headquarters had been "temporarily transferred" to Kisangani until a new order was in place. Professor Wamba dia Wamba was still the movement's recognised leader, said the statement, signed by Assembly president Mbusa Nyamwisi. The statement rejected the "conspiracies" of the "so-called convocation of founders". Nervous rebel soldiers loyal to Wamba, wrongly believing they were about to be attacked by a rival faction, went into a "firing frenzy" from Kisangani's Palm Beach hotel early on Thursday, AFP reported. Fifteen Wamba supporters were staying at the hotel. The agency said prior to the incident there were rumours that the Rwandan-backed faction represented in Kisangani by RCD Commander Jean-Pierre Ondekane would attempt to attack Wamba's headquarters.
BURUNDI: Spokesman denies Congolese refugees detained
Burundi has denied allegations by the DRC that it is detaining 760 Congolese refugees in Rumonge in the southern province of Bururi. The refugees had fled across Lake Tanganyika to escape fighting in Baraka last month. UNHCR said their boat ran out of fuel and came ashore in Rumonge. However DRC Human Rights Minister Leonard Okitundu, in a statement broadcast by DRC television, accused the Burundian army of intercepting the boat and "arbitrarily detaining" the refugees. A spokesman for the Burundian justice ministry, Jean-Berckmans Kaburundi, told the BBC Kirundi service on Wednesday the refugees had been "well-received" in Rumonge and had been visited by humanitarian organisations, including UNHCR. He said
the refugees were being given the choice of either returning to DRC or being lodged at a site in Rugombo, in Burundi's Cibitoke province. "They cannot be detained since they aren't accused of anything," Kaburundi said.
RWANDA: New judges sworn in
Three new judges appointed to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) were sworn in on Monday by UN Under-Secretary-General and Legal Counsel Hans Corell, the tribunal said in a statement. The latest appointments take to nine the total number of judges of the three trial chambers of the ICTR. The three judges are Mehmet Guney from Turkey, Erik Mose from Norway and Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardna of Sri Lanka.
Five trials have now been completed by the tribunal. They constitute the first judgements by any international court in the world for genocide. The new judges will form a third chamber which is expected to speed up the trials of nearly 50 suspects currently being held in custody.
Shell takes over state oil company
The Shell Oil Company has taken over the state-owned oil establishment, Petro-Rwanda, the Rwanda News Agency reported on Tuesday. It cited the head of the National Privatisation Secretariat, Vianney Shumbusho, as saying Petro-Rwanda had more liabilities than assets, hence the sale to Shell for US $2.1 million.
UGANDA: 30 arrested in connection with bomb blasts
Thirty people have been arrested in connection with a series of bomb blasts which have rocked Kampala and other parts of the country, press reports said on Wednesday. The semi-official 'New Vision' newspaper quoted security officials as saying those arrested over the last month are suspected of having been trained to make bombs using local materials. The suspects are being held in "safe houses" in various parts of the city. Among those arrested are a Sudanese national and director of an international NGO, Ahmadiya Muslim Mission, the newspaper said. The suspects will be charged in court "soon".
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Annan urges preparations for polls
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday urged the CAR government to expedite its preparations for the presidential election scheduled for later this year. In a report to the Security Council, he said further delays or a reduction in electoral support for CAR may jeopardise the entire purpose of the UN mission, MINURCA. He urged the Council to support the plan submitted by the mission to "ensure an acceptable level of observation of the freedom and fairness" of the election process. "The deployment plans are essential to make the election credible," he said.
Annan said the delays experienced so far had "seriously impaired" the degree to which MINURCA could assist the process. He also appealed for financial assistance to restructure the armed forces, police and gendarmerie.
TANZANIA: Lugufu refugee camp overstretched
The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) has warned that the sharp rise in DRC refugees crossing Lake Tanganyika has stretched the Red Cross refugee camp at Lugufu in western Tanzania beyond its planned capacity. In a news release issued on Thursday, IFRC said the camp was currently housing 50,000 refugees - 5,000 to 10,000 more than were ever anticipated - and expressed concern that more refugees were on the way. "The world has more or less forgotten them, but more and more refugees are coming here," said Georg Nothelle, head of the IFRC in Tanzania. "There is an urgent need for funding." He warned that the biggest problem may be water, as the camp lies in a remote area and requires its own secure water supply.
UGANDA: Museveni reiterates amnesty offer
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday officially offered an amnesty to all rebels in the country, at the opening of the new parliamentary session. News organisations said the announcement was applauded by legislators since Museveni had previously resisted this as a way of curbing acts of terrorism particularly in the north, west and in Kampala. In his speech broadcast by Ugandan radio, Museveni warned however that the offer was not open-ended. He announced he would recruit more soldiers and buy more military equipment to crush insurgencies. The main challenge to the country's security, he said, were high-altitude aircraft from Sudan "to which we have yet to find a solution".
GREAT LAKES: WFP appeals for funds to avert food gap
WFP on Thursday appealed to donors for immediate contributions to keep the food aid "pipeline" from breaking down in the Great Lakes region. In a press release, the head of the WFP Africa desk in Rome, Mohamed Zejjari, pointed out the agency was virtually the sole source of food for over one million people in the region. "Existing stocks will be exhausted by the end of July and fresh supplies are not scheduled to arrive until September," he warned. "WFP urgently needs US $13 million to bridge the gap between June and September." "We have very grave concerns about the ability of the people to sustain the reduction in rations we will be forced to make," he added. He said the three-month gap arose because of delays in deliveries of food to the region.
WFP's representative in Tanzania warned that refugees there are particularly vulnerable to reduced rations because many are already in fragile health. "We've already had rioting on previous occasions when we have tried to cut back the rations," Irene Lacy said. "Continued reductions are extremely dangerous."
Nairobi, 4 June 1999 12:00 GMT
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