By Nicole Winfield
Associated PressFebruary 8, 2001
UN Security Council members still chastened by their failure to prevent Rwanda's 1994 genocide told that country's president that he must pull his forces out of Congo.
France was particularly hard on Rwandan President Paul Kagame during a council meeting Wednesday, demanding the unconditional withdrawal of Rwandan troops and warning that an upcoming report on the pillaging of Congo's gold and diamonds would be closely studied by council members.
The report, likely at the end of March, is expected to investigate allegations that Rwanda and Uganda have profited from their presence in Congo's mineral-rich eastern provinces.
French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte said the Rwandan presence in Congo was ''unacceptable,'' and it may look to impose sanctions against Rwanda and Uganda after the report is released.
Kagame responded that Rwanda was ready to pull its troops from Congo provided the United Nations or others stepped in to disarm the former soldiers and Hutu militia members responsible for the 1994 genocide of some 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
''We are ready to withdraw,'' Kagame told a press conference Wednesday. But he added: ''Can you, international community, give a commitment that if we withdraw, you will help us to deal with the consequences of that?''
''Well, that commitment has not been forthcoming,'' he said.
Kagame added that the inauguration of Joseph Kabila as president of Congo following the Jan. 16 palace slaying of his father, Laurent Kabila, had created a new opportunity for Congo's peace process to be revived.
Congo's war began in August 1998 when Laurent Kabila's main sponsors, Uganda and Rwanda, turned against him and began supporting an anti-government rebellion. Kabila kept the rebels at bay with the help of new allies Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
All sides signed a peace agreement in 1999 in Lusaka, Zambia, but all have since violated it.
U.N. officials said Wednesday that the United Nations plans to deploy 128 more military observers in Congo over the next two months to help monitor the peace accord.
A first contingent of 40 troops is expected Feb. 26 and will be sent to a new U.N. base in the eastern town of Kalemie, near the border with Tanzania, U.N. squadron leader Paul Beard said. Another group of 36 soldiers is expected March 26, with 52 troops due April 3.
While all sides signed the 1999 accord that provided for the U.N. observers, their deployment was repeatedly blocked by then President Laurent Kabila.
The U.N. Security Council has authorized the deployment of 500 military observers and 5,000 support troops to monitor the 1999 deal. But fighting has continued and only 100 observers have deployed so far.
Kabila said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press that he wanted U.N. peacekeepers to deploy in Congo soon, but insisted there could be no peace without the withdrawal of ''occupying'' forces from African countries.
Congolese officials have accused the council, and particularly the United States, of failing to do enough to pressure Rwanda to withdraw because of lingering guilt at having failed to stop the genocide.
