OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 3.30pm.
THE new United States ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday voiced US support for President Laurent Kabila, and slammed Rwanda and Uganda for their “military interference” in the country.
The comments made by William Swing on national television are the first to be made by a western official in support of Kabila’s accusations of aggression by his eastern neighbours since the rebellion against his rule broke out on August 2.
After meeting with DRC Justice Minister Mwenze Kongolo, Swing said the United States “condemns the outside military interference by such countries as Rwanda and Uganda” in the DRC.
Swing said of his appointment in Kinshasa that, “We are here to support the process of transition of the government and President Kabila.”
Meanwhile, the DRC has called on the UN Security Council to condemn the downing of a Congo Airlines jet, in which 41 people were killed, by the Rwanda-Uganda rebel coalition.
DRC charge d’affaires Monga Mulenda Makonga said that the Boeing 727 “was shot down three minutes after take-off from Kindu airport by a missile.” The rebels admit to shooting down the plane shortly before it landed, but claim that the aircraft was used a troop and ammunition carrier to Kindu.
The Burundian government on Thursday denied allegations by DRC Justice Minister Mwenze Kongolo that it is involved in the conflict there, the Burundian news agency ABP said. “We have said, and say again, that Burundi is not involved in the Congolese conflict,” the government said in a statement.
Splits emerged in Zimbabwe’s cabinet this week over the country’s costly military support of President Laurent Kabila, estimated to be costing the cash-strapped government around US$1-million a day.
According to an independent weekly, The Zimbabwe Mirror, there was a “heated debate in cabinet on Tuesday over whether Zimbabwean troops should remain in the DRC, with the majority advocating for the immediate withdrawal and to bring pressure to bear on Kabila to initiate direct talks with the rebels.”
President Robert Mugabe, supported by a minority in his 54-strong cabinet, took a hardline stance “which could not rule out the possibility of taking the war right inside Rwanda and Uganda”. — AFP
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