Allies to intensify Congo campaign
By Christopher Bishop in Harare
Daily Telegraph, October 22
LEADERS of the southern African allies fighting rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo agreed yesterday to intensify the war. Angolan, Zimbabwean and Namibian troops, propping up President Laurent Kabila's tottering government, have been ordered to take rebel strongholds in the east of the former Zaire.
The announcement risks a massive escalation of the war in mineral-rich Congo. It also dramatically upstages attempts by President Mandela to broker a ceasefire.
President Robert Mugabe, the chairman of the summit, was visibly irritated as he fended off questions over the cost of the conflict. Military experts estimate that for Zimbabwe alone the cost could be £500,000 a day, drawing criticism from taxpayers. He said in Harare: "You talk of resources as if resources were more important than the survival of people."
Sources at the summit said that, by pledging help against Angola's Unita rebels, Mr Mugabe had persuaded President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos of Angola - who has one of Africa's best-equipped armies - to use his warplanes in the Congo.
Many people in Namibia and Zimbabwe have been questioning why their soldiers are dying. Casualty figures are uncertain, but Mr Mugabe confirmed yesterday that 16 of his troops had been captured when they were dropped mistakenly into enemy territory.
Yesterday's meeting came after the rebels, who are backed by Rwanda and Uganda, inflicted a humiliating defeat on the allies last week with the capture of the strategic town of Kindu.
telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=000853717812049&rtmo=kobxNb7p&atmo=99999999&P4_FOLLOW_ON=/98/10/22/wcon22.html&pg=/et/98/10/22/wcon22.html |
