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Humanitarian mission to Zaire set to begin
November 29, 1996
A L S O : Washington mulls relief mission role
Web posted at: 5:45 p.m. EST (2245 GMT)OTTAWA (CNN) -- A scaled-down international force to aid refugees in Zaire was approved Friday by the ambassadors of key nations who signed up to participate.
"Now the multinational force is formally constituted," said Paul Heinbecker, Canada's Assistant Deputy Foreign Minister, after the meeting.
Over 20 nations agreed to the plan, which includes an unarmed military reconnaissance mission to find refugees in eastern Zaire and airdrops of supplies into the region.
The international force will set up headquarters in Entebbe, Uganda -- a move that came about because of Rwanda's reluctance to allow aid missions from its soil.
The force will be much smaller than the 10,000 envisioned by Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien when he called for the mission three weeks ago. Since the moves to set up the force began, however, some 600,000 refugees left Zaire and returned to Rwanda. Accounts varied about how many refugees remained in Zaire.
Some of the countries that had agreed to participate, including the United States, balked at sending troops into the region -- where Rwandan-backed rebels are battling Zairian army troops -- to aid an unknown number of refugees.
Canada already has about 300 troops and the United States about 400 in the area. Most are already in Entebbe. The final size of the humanitarian force has not been determined.
The idea of airdropping supplies has been a controversial one. Aid workers say they fear the supplies could fall into the wrong hands, and some Zairian officials have been less than supportive of the idea.
Zairian Information Minister Boguo Makeli, in fact, said that Zaire would not allow "overflights of its territory by any aircraft" because it considers the mission dangerous.
But Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy said that Maleki's comments were that of "one minister of one of the government's in Zaire."
Axworthy said Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko had given the mission his "full approval."
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Political leaders consider aid to African refugees - Nov. 24, 1996
- U.N. Security Council approves relief troops for Zaire - Nov. 15, 1996
Related sites:
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- Canadian Contribution to Rwanda
- U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
- Crisis in Zaire
- The Care Organization
- International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
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