Militia leader implicates SA

2003-06-10 08:32

Kinshasa - A leader of the pro-government Mai-Mai militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) central Maniema province late on Monday accused South Africa of secretly sending arms in to the province.

Operational Commander Lambert Konga Kanape told AFP: "For more than a month containers painted in the UN colours but containing heavy arms have been arriving in Kindu (capital of Maniema) from South Africa via Kigali."

Konga Kanape, a member of the military commission designating tasks in the future DRC army, went on: "Besides the containers, men in military uniform and speaking English - who might be mercenaries - are training soldiers of the RCD (the Rawnda-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy) to use these weapons."

The fake United Nations containers held "heavy and light arms, but the quantity of heavy armament is impressive," including 60 mm and 82 mm mortars and anti-aircraft guns, Konga Kanape said.

The South African "trainers" numbered about 150, the equivalent of a company, the Mai-Mai leader added.

The first arms deliveries, which had nothing to do with the UN mission in DRC, Monuc, came at the same time as the deployment in mid-May of a South African expeditionary corps in Kindu, Konga Kanape said, expressing "disquiet about the real role played by South Africa in the DRC."

He declared: "South Africa wants a bigger and bigger part in Monuc, especially in the eastern regions that are coveted by Rwanda. We have to be assured of its loyalty."

The Mai-Mai operational chief in Maniema called for "an inquiry by the international community to find out who these men are - mercenaries or South African soldiers - and what they are preparing.

"Otherwise I will order my men to attack these positions and seize the arms," Commander Konga Kanape warned. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA