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Rwanda opposes intervention in E. Zaire
Central African leaders convene summit on crisis
November 5, 1996
Web posted at: 12:20 p.m. EST (1720 GMT)NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Rwandan Foreign Minister Anastase Gasana said Tuesday Rwanda would strongly oppose any international military intervention in eastern Zaire to aid more than a million refugees fleeing from fighting there.
"If there were a decision for such an intervention ... it would be opposed by the sub-region by all means, not only political," he told a news conference at the Rwandan embassy in Brussels.
France and Spain called Monday for a U.N.-sanctioned military force to go into Zaire to provide security for the refugees. French President Jacques Chirac said Tuesday the multinational force could be replaced by an African force.
Meanwhile, leaders of eight Central African nations met Tuesday in Kenya to discuss the crisis, with the refugee plight topping the agenda.
"The conflict in Eastern Zaire poses a serious threat to the stability of the region," Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi said at the opening of the summit.
Leaders of Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Eritrea, Cameroon and host Kenya are participating in the summit. Noticeably absent from the table Tuesday was a representative of Zaire, which boycotted the summit saying it would not attend talks until Rwandan troops withdrew from its territory.
Salim Ahmed Salim, secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity, said before the summit began that leaders would address both humanitarian and political issues.
"First we must open corridors to ensure supplies and second, create the conditions so the refugees can return to Rwanda. That is the most important issue to help find a lasting solution," he said.
The current crisis stems from the fighting between Zaire's army and ethnic Tutsis who live in Zaire and who are allegedly aided by the Tutsi-dominated army of Rwanda.
The fighting has forced a million Hutu refugees to flee further into Zaire. These Hutus -- who fled Rwanda when the Tutsis came power following the massacres of 1994 -- have lived in refugee camps around Lake Kivu for past two years, intermingling with militants responsible for the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
Tutsi rebels declared a unilateral cease-fire Monday to give international relief organizations time to aid refugees in either returning to Rwanda or resettling in refugee camps.
In Goma Tuesday, Red Cross workers collected and buried some of the more than 400 bodies of people killed in fighting in the border city, the center of relief operations for eastern Zaire.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Zaire rebels declare cease-fire - November 4, 1996
- Rebels declare temporary cease-fire in E. Zaire - November 4, 1996
- Zaire's refugees at brink of disaster - November 3, 1996
- Aid workers caught in heavy Zaire fighting - October 31, 1996
- Archbishop killed as rebels rout Zairian army - October 30, 1996
Related sites:
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- Crisis in Zaire
- American Red Cross: Crisis in Eastern Zaire
- Zaire Watch
- U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
- Rwanda Page
- City.Net:Zaire
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