Hello Philip:
Here's a brief story on the report:
Uganda, Rwanda Officers Cited in DR
Congo Looting
New Vision (Kampala)
March 28, 2001
Emmy Allio
Kampala
The United Nations (UN) panel probing illegal
exploitation of the Congo's natural resources has
named Ugandan and Rwandan military officers
among groups looting in the DR Congo.
The report, to be tabled to the UN security Council
this week, was published on March 23 by the
Paris-based Le Monde newspaper. It named USA,
German, Belgium and Kazakhstan as leading
buyers of the illegally exploited resources.
The report said Uganda as a country has no policy
to loot Congo but implicated several UPDF officers,
former presidential advisor on defence and security
affairs, Maj. Gen. Salim Saleh, as well as political
heavyweights.
It said in Kampala, there were evident signs of
wealth Ugandan officers had acquired from Congo,
adding that the UPDF considered their period in
Congo as a compensation for their part in the war.
The report said a UPDF officer in Arua, Col. F.
Mugenyi, who controls parts of northeastern Congo,
ordered the population to mine gold at Kilomoto.
It said after three months of savage mining,
industrial mining by the Ugandan officers goes on.
It said on September 9, 1999, a huge rock of pure
gold fell off at Gorumbwa in Watsa. It said in the
confusion, Mugenyi grabbed 15kg of pure gold
worth millions of shillings from government reserves
in Watsa.
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Phinehas Katirima
yesterday said the Government was preparing a
comprehensive reply to the UN report. He said,
"Those allegations are quite big and they need a
comprehensive government reply."
The report said Rwanda has a well structured
system of exploitation established in 1996 when
Rwanda catapulted the late DRC leader, Laurent
Kabila, to power. It said Rwanda uses Congo's
resources to finance its military operations there.
The report said about 1,000 to 3,000 prisoners of
war were used by Rwandan officers to mine
Kasasa in the North Kivu province until the mines
were exhausted.
Last week, Rwandan presidential press secretary
Nicholas Shalita denied the claims.
The report implicated a Lebanese company,
Victoria Society which, it said, belonged to people
with close links to President Yoweri Museveni.
It also attacked Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia.
Copyright © 2001 New Vision. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media
(allAfrica.com). |
