Zairians attack aid train

Kinshasa residents wait for rebels' arrival

April 21, 1997
Web posted at: 12:14 p.m. EDT (1614 GMT)

KINSHASA, Zaire (CNN) -- U.N. aid operations were suspended Monday after Zairians attacked and looted a train loaded with food bound for Rwandan refugees.

Zairian mobs also attacked a food depot and attacked international journalists and aid workers near Kasese, 26 kilometers (16 miles) south of Kisangani. The Zairians reportedly blame Rwandan Hutu militiamen among the refugees for the deaths of at least six local people.

Rebel soldiers did nothing to prevent or stop the attacks, witnesses said.

"We cannot continue to keep sending food worth tens of thousands of dollars without assurances form the rebels," said Michele Quintaglie of the U.N.'s World Food Program.

The rebels, who have taken nearly half the country in the drive to oust President Mobutu Sese Seko, are preparing for an assault on the capital, Kinshasa.

"The war against the devil continues," said rebel leader Laurent Kabila. "But there is still much work to be done and to finish the job we must get to Kinshasa."

Many in the capital eagerly await Kabila's arrival. Long- silent political parties, emboldened by the rebels' successes, have begun raising their voices again.

"There are a lot of potential leaders in this country," said Andre Kalonzo of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress. "And the Mobutu regime has worked at preventing these people from emerging."

But the war has not yet come to Kinshasa, said French school history professor Frank Meriau. More than half the school's students and their parents have left Zaire, as have their counterparts at the American school.

Those that remain appear unconcerned about the approaching rebels.

"You know things are OK, and it's all right to be here and that this is a safe place," American school principal Larry Cummins told his students.

Correspondent Mike Hanna and Reuters contributed to this report.

 

Related stories:

• Mobutu-Kabila talks planned; success uncertain - April 18, 1997
• Mobutu's opponents shut down Zaire's capital - April 14, 1997

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