December 29, 2000
The Security Council demanded Thursday that Rwanda and Uganda immediately stop new offensives in Congo and withdraw their troops from the country.
In a statement, ambassadors said they were concerned about the recent fighting in northwestern Equateur province and southeastern Katanga province. The attacks have forced thousands of people to flee their homes and cross into the Central African Republic and Republic of Congo in the northwest and Zambia in the southeast.
The United Nations has said the attacks appeared to be separate offensives mounted by Ugandan and Rwandan forces, who are both backing rebels who took up arms in 1998 to oust President Laurent Kabila from power.
The rebels have acknowledged taking new positions in the diamond-rich Katanga province, but say the moves are designed to prevent the Congolese government from launching new attacks on their troops.
Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov, the current council president, said the 15 ambassadors called on both the Rwandan and Ugandan forces to abide by their recent commitments to implement a cease-fire and pull back their troops.
Congo's U.N. mission went further, demanding in a letter released Thursday that the council impose sanctions on the two countries for refusing U.N. demands to leave the country. There was no indication the council would take up the request for sanctions, but its statement was unusually blunt in ascribing blame for the recent hostilities to the two countries.
Rwanda and Uganda say they are in Congo to protect their borders from remnants of the Interahamwe militia and former Hutu soldiers who fled into what was Zaire after taking part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Kabila has enlisted the support of Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia to fend off the rebel attacks and the Rwandan and Ugandan ``aggression.'' The council also called for other foreign troops to leave the country.
All the key players signed a cease-fire agreement in Lusaka, Zambia in 1999 - and have made further cease-fire commitments since to end the war.
