OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Wednesday 9.30pm.
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe, who returned home from the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, has vowed to continue supporting the DRC’s embattled President Laurent Kabila.
The meeting between Mugabe and Kabila in Kabila’s southern stronghold, Lubumbashi, took place hours after the Tutsi-led rebels captured the town of Kindu, which had served as the government’s base of operations in the east.
Mugabe, whose troops alongside those from Angola, Namibia and Chad have sought to prop up the DRC armed forces, renewed the allies’ commitment to defend the DRC against the rebellion and its backers.
He also heavily castigated Rwanda and Uganda for their role in the conflict. The rebels allegedly enjoy strong backing from both countries.
The Zimbabwe president said in an interview with Zimbabwe state television that the DRC, should never be allowed “to be subjected to the wiles and guiles and the influence of little Rwanda, or for that matter to the control of Uganda or the control of both of them. It is absolute stupidity.”
Mugabe castigated Rwanda and Uganda for backtracking on the agreement to cease hostilities after the last Victoria Falls talks last month and described both countries as “aggressors and liars”.
Foreign troops supporting Kabila have been based mainly in Kinshasa and the west of the DRC and did not participate in the week-long battle for Kindu. Asked whether the allied forces would deploy in the east, Mugabe said: “Our alliance is going to review the situation.”
Meanwhile Kabila is expected in Harare at the end of October to seal bilateral trade deals with Harare in areas of agriculture, mining and road and rail network development. — AFP