AU: Send troops to Congo

2005-01-14 10:29

Kinshasa - The African Union wants African countries to send troops to eastern Congo to forcefully disarm rebel factions believed responsible for the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda.

Desmond Orjiako, spokesperson for the 53-member organisation, said he would soon ask African nations to contribute soldiers to disarm an estimated 10 000 former Rwandan soldiers and Hutu Interahamwe militia who fled to Congo after killing nearly 800 000 people a decade ago.

"This is a very, very dangerous situation that needs decisive action to overcome," said Orjiako, speaking by telephone from AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. "A decision has been made that these people need to be disarmed."

The presence of Rwandan Hutu rebels still active in eastern Congo has helped spark years of warfare in the vast central African nation.

Twice invaded

Rwanda has invaded Congo twice in the last decade, ostensibly to stamp out that threat. About 11 000 United Nations peacekeepers are also deployed in Congo with a mandate to bolster security.

The rebels live in remote forest camps in the east where the central government's authority is nonexistent. Some have voluntarily disarmed, but thousands remain - and Rwanda has hinted it may take renewed military action against them again.

Both Congo president Joseph Kabila and Rwandan president Paul Kagame have agreed to allow the African Union to coordinate any new operation involving African Union troops, Orjiako said.

He said the African Union would also seek close assistance from the European Union and United Nations. Orjiako said there was no timetable on the deployment of soldiers, but hoped it would happen soon.

The news follows a two-day summit in Libreville, Gabon this week at which African leaders discussed the conflict in Congo.

Sporadic fighting has continued in vast country in the wake of a 1998-2002 war that sucked in six nations and killed close to 4 million Congolese, mostly from war-induced starvation and disease, according to aid groups.

Last month, Rwanda claimed rebels operating in Congo fired a rocket across the border, prompting Kagame to suggest a third invasion. In response, Congo's government sent 10 000 troops to the Rwandan border.

At the same time, Congolese government and dissident, former rebel troops have battled in the vast, mineral-rich east, emptying villages and towns and sending 150 000 into the jungles.

The dissident soldiers are allied with Rwanda, and were supposed to integrate with the national army after a June 2003 power-sharing agreement that ended Congo's war. - AP

- SAPA