WEDNESDAY, 4.00PM
NEW Democratic Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila has agreed to an investigation into reported massacres of Hutu refugees in the east of the country, United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan said at the final day of the Organisation of African Unity summit in Harare on Wednesday.
Annan said Kabila had agreed to “co-operate both on assistance to the refugees and investigations into the accusations. I’ve had a very useful and very good discussion with President Kabila. We discussed very frankly the refugee issues and we’ve come to an understanding of resolving the issue, how we move forward to deal with the problems.”
Annan said Kabila will appoint “a senior cabinet member to work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to determine the size of the problem and move ahead with them energetically to resolve the refugee problem. He feels equally concerned and he realises the urgency and the importance of the problem and has agreed to work with us constructively and co-operatively on it.
Aid workers have accused Kabila’s army of carrying out massacres of Rwandan Hutu refugees during its drive to oust former Zairean president Mobutu Sese Seko.