Zaire and rebels demand strict limits on aid
November 30, 1996
Web posted at: 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT)
KINSHASA, Zaire (CNN) -- The Zairian government and its rebel
enemies on Saturday both criticized an international plan to
airdrop supplies to refugees in eastern Zaire.
Zaire's interior minister met the Canadian commander of a
planned multinational force for Zaire and rejected Canada's
proposal for the airdrop.
"We do not understand how the multinational force could
operate in Zaire without taking into account... the fact that
we are at war with the regular armies of Rwanda and Burundi,
supported by Uganda," Interior Minister Kamanda Wa Kamanda
said.
"We remain formally against the airdropping of supplies,"
said Kamanda, speaking after meeting Canadian Lt. Gen.
Maurice Baril who was on a one-day visit to Kinshasa.
Ambassadors from 14 countries meeting in Canada on Friday
approved a multinational force to bring aid to hundreds of
thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees and Zairians displaced by
recent fighting between the Zairian army and Rwanda-backed
rebels.
Meanwhile, the region's rebel leader, Laurent Kabila, also
objected to widespread airdrops. Food airdrops would only be
allowed, he said, if his mostly Tutsi rebels are given
evidence of a "big concentration of refugees." Without such
information, airdrops will be banned, he said, because they
would aid the "enemy" -- the Zairian military.
Kabila made his comments at a news conference in Goma, Zaire.
He said he met with Baril on Thursday and both agreed to
specific terms.
"We agreed that they (international force) can only send a
small group of soldiers, not more than five, who would be
specialists. Their duties would be to coordinate airdrops,"
Kabila said. Baril has yet to comment on Kabila's statements.
Kabila and his forces took a swath of territory along Zaire's
borders with Rwanda and Burundi in October. The rebel-held
territory extends for about 250 miles (400 km), from Butembo
in the north to the shores of Lake Tanganyika in the south.
International force smaller than first planned
As part of the international plan, the participating nations
-- including the United States, France, Britain, Belgium and
South Africa -- agreed to an unarmed military reconnaissance
mission to find refugees, and to airdrop supplies into the
region.
The international force will set up headquarters in Entebbe,
Uganda -- a move that came about because of Rwanda's
reluctance to allow aid missions from its soil.
Zaire opposes setting up of the U.N. military
headquarters in Uganda, said Kamanda, the interior minister.
The force will be much smaller than the 10,000 envisioned by
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien when he called for the
mission three weeks ago. Since the moves to set up the force
began, some 600,000 refugees left Zaire and returned to
Rwanda. Accounts vary about how many refugees remained in
Zaire.
Uganda troops reportedly enter Zaire
Meanwhile, near the northern tip of the rebel-held territory,
the Ugandan army entered Zaire and seized the town of Kasindi
and surrounding hills, the Ugandan government newspaper New
Vision reported Saturday.
The paper said 23 Ugandan rebels were killed in the attack
for allegedly raiding western Uganda.
"We are fed up with these bandits. We are going to finish
them," Lt. Col. Geoffrey Muheesi was quoted as saying.
He said the rebels were backed by Zaire. The Zairian
government has denied the allegations.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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