SA weapons in DRC 'rubbish'

2003-06-10 16:20

Pretoria - A senior South African official has dismissed as "utter rubbish" claims that the country was secretly sending arms to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

"It's an irresponsible lie and we take serious exception," Billy Masetlha, chairperson of the Third Party Verification Mechanism, said on Tuesday.

He said in the DRC capital of Kinshasa he intended taking up the matter with the Mai-Mai leader who made the allegation.

"I have asked to see him today (Tuesday) and I am going to tell him this is nonsense," Masetlha said.

The verification mechanism was set up last year to monitor the withdrawal of foreign troops from the Congo.

Mai-Mai operational commander Lambert Kanape earlier said the arms purportedly coming from South Africa were being sent to the central Maniema province of the DRC.

He told the French news agency AFP: "For more than a month containers painted in United Nations colours but containing heavy arms have been arriving in Kindu from South Africa via Kigali."

Kanape added: "Besides the containers, men in military uniform and speaking English - who might be mercenaries - are training soldiers of the RCD (the Rwanda-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy) to use these weapons."

Masetlha said Kanape was either "mischievous" or "naive" about the deployment of South African troops in the area in support of the UN's peacekeeping mission (Monuc) in the area.

"He should know better than anyone that we are deploying and that we are bringing in equipment," Masetlha said.

"Mr Kanape clearly does not know what a mercenary looks like."

South Africa had so far deployed about 1 300 soldiers in Kindu in support of UN troops.

"And we will account for every pistol and every bullet," Masetlha said.

Kanape said the first arms deliveries came at the same time as the deployment about three weeks ago of a South African expeditionary corps in Kindu.

He accused South Africa of wanting "a bigger and bigger" part of Monuc, and called for an international inquiry in the suspected presence of mercenaries.

Masetlha said South Africa would never become involved in the kind activities suggested by Kanape.

"We are not a banana republic. We will never support or train rebels. It's all in his (Kanape) imagination," Masetlha said.

- SAPA