OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 10.00pm.
THE Democratic Republic of Congo government has denied that Sudanese troops have arrived in the forward military base of Kindu to assist forces loyal to President Laurent Kabila.
The DRC rebels fighting to topple Kabila claimed on Wednesday that Libya bankrolled the deployment of some 2,000 Sudanese and ex-Zairean troops in support of Kabila’s allied forces, which already include troops from Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia. A rebel spokesperson in Goma said that Kabila is preparing to bring in more allied troops via the Central African Republic and Chad. Kabila visited both countries last week.
DRC army headquarters rejected the rebel claim of a Sudanese troop presence. Sudan’s foreign minister, Mustafa Osmane Ismail, said in Cairo on Wednesday that “our support for Kabila is of a political nature”.
The rebels have meanwhile announced a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Goma, following Monday’s attack by pro-Kabila forces which left 24 people dead.
An independent report from a Dutch journalist indicates that the town of Kalemie was captured by Kabila’s forces earlier this week.
The report goes on to say that South African mercenaries from an unknown “security” company are assisting Kabila’s forces in Katanga province. “Their principal role seemed to be to ensure good communications between the different forces on Kabila’s side,” the journalist said. “They moved freely about town and spoke Afrikaans. They were very well equipped with 4X4 vehicles, automatic rifles, night visors and radios.”