ZAMBIAN President Frederick Chiluba, due to have arrived in South Africa on Sunday, has postponed his visit indefinitely to allow him to continue consultations with the leaders of countries involved in the Democratic Republic of Congo peace process, Deputy President Thabo Mbeki’s office said on Sunday. Chiluba arrived in Harare on Sunday morning to consult Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe.
ECOMOG ‘ON DEFENSIVE’
THE Nigerian-led West African Ecomog intervention force was on Saturday reported “on the defensive” against rebels in Aberdeen, a district in the far west of the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown, according to an Ecomog officer. “We are defending our positions” against the rebels, said the officer, a Nigerian, who requested anonymity. Residents said Ecomog now controls only the two districts of Aberdeen and Cockerill, in the far west of Freetown. The centre of Freetown remains cut off, with no telephone, electricity or water, and food supplies have run out, humanitarian sources said.