/ 6 June 2000

CHILUBA SLAMS DRC REBEL LEADER

ZAMBIAN President Frederick Chiluba returned from a meeting with Democratic Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila Monday to accuse DRC rebel rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba of failing to respect a ceasefire he signed last August. Chiluba told state television after meeting Kabila in the southeastern DRC city of Lubumbashi that Bemba’s Congo Liberation Movement (MLC) was the only body taking part in the war there that was failing to respect the ceasefire accord signed in Lusaka last year. “The Lusaka ceasefire agreement has been respected by everybody apart from the MLC and its leader, Bemba,” Chiluba said. “Chairman Bemba deserves to be condemned.” The war in the DRC is pitting Kabila’s army, backed by troops from Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, against the MLC and two other rebel factions.