NEWS ON CONGO 014: Stringpuller US tiptoes retreat [Posted: 01.10.98, again 02.10.98] The internationally influential mass media are now all silent about the still ongoing aggression against the DR Congo. This clearly is not only because at present there is a lull in the armed fighting. It's also because things are going worse and worse for the aggressors, whom they have all massively supported with concerted mendacious "reporting". Here anyway are some ar- ticles with news of importance which I've seen on the Net: 1. "UNITED STATES RETURN TIP-TOE TO KINSHASA", article in news- paper Vision on 29.09, reproduced at , here in translation from the French 2. "OFFICIAL SAYS U.S. CONSIDERS SWITCHING CONGO POLICY", artic- le posted today 01.10 to newsgroup 'soc.culture.african' by BlackStar News, USA 3. "ZIMBAWBE READY FOR A DECISIVE COUNTER-OFFENSIVE", article in newspaper le Potentiel on 29.09, reproduced at , here in translation from the French Noteworthy in article 1 is an earlier report mentioned there by Colette Braeckman of Belgian paper le Soir. According to it, warships of the US Navy, stationed outside DR Congo, actually were directing those military operations of the so-called "re- bels" (in reality mainly Ugandan and Rwandan elite troops) in the western part of the country which in mid-August posed a se- rious threat to the capital and which were defeated by the Con- golese and allied forces only after a very hard struggle. - RM 1. From : UNITED STATES RETURN TIP-TOE TO KINSHASA (Vision, DR Congo, 29.09.98) *Since the plot against the DR Congo has failed* The United States on Monday 21 September proceded to reopen their embassy in Kinshasa. William Swing, the future ambassador appointed by President Bill Clinton to represent Uncle Sam in the DRC, has hoisted the Stars and Stripes over the American embassy. Still, the successor of Daniel Howard Simpson has not yet offi- cially presented his credentials to President Laurent-Désiré Ka- bila. On the same list is also the ambassador of the State of Israel. It was in mid-August during the raging war in the Bas-Congo, at the time when the rebellion stood at the gates of the capital, that the State Department took the decision to close down its diplomatic representation in Kinshasa and evacuate all its Ame- rican staff. The Congolese staff was put on technical leave. Ma- deleine Albright used as a pretext the threats which were posed against certain American embassies in the world after the two anti-American bombings in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam. As leader of the international plot intended to overthrow Lau- rent-Désiré Kabila, the United States in fact is the main orga- niser of the Rwandan-Ugandan aggression perpetrated against the DRC. The guilt-ridden silence of the Clinton Administration speaks volumes about the real intentions of the Americans at the time when their embassy in Kinshasa is reopened. Might this reopening mean that the United States have capitula- ted?, observers are asking themselves. Or has William Swing ar- rived in order to put the final touches to another plot slyly concocted by Washington? The American diplomat, it is reported, remained on stand-by in Brazzaville awaiting the fall of Kinshasa while the two warships of the US Navy were directing the military operations of the re- bels, as was disclosed by our colleague Colette Braeckman of the Belgian newspaper le Soir. William Swing was awaiting the coup de grace against Kabila's regime. What then does the presence in Brazzaville of soldiers of the former DSP hide, and that of American instructors in Ki- gali? In order to perpetrate their crime, the United States are por- traying Kabila as a dictator worse than Mobutu. *Ambiguous position* However, the "fault" of the man from Lemera is to have refused to kneel before the international community to ask for any aid for the reconstruction of the Congo. One thus can understand why the Rwandan-Ugandan coalition with impunity continues to occupy part of the eastern DR Congo without Bill Clinton's raising his voice to demand the retreat of the Rwandan and Ugandan invaders of this country. Madeleine Albright on her part prefers sowing confusion by cal- ling for the retreat of foreign troops from the Congo and re- questing of countries and armed movements which at present are not taking part in the conflict in the DRC, that they refrain from intervening. This at a time when both Congolese and inter- national public opinion know are perfectly well aware of the fact that the Angolan, Namibian and Zimbabwean troops are on Congolese soil at the express request of the government to help repulse the aggressors. As a Congolese nationalist and patriot, Laurent-Désiré Kabila by no means intends to let his line of policy be dictated by anyone. The Congolese head of state has stated clearly that he has taken his stand, that of defending the interests of the people, and that thus he intends to remain true to the will of the people, and that in no way it is permissible to betray the interests of his people. The Congolese today await of the Americans that they try to play fair with the Kabila government, which on its part is in- tent on having straight-forward collaboration with all the states of the international community. At this time when the work of the 53rd Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations is in progress, the Democratic Congo would like to see the Security Council condemn the occupa- tion of its territory and demand the retreat of the foreign troops from its soil. Only after this will it be suitable to hold a big regional summit on the Great Lakes. A difficult task for William Swing, who will have to take up clear and unambiguous positions. Gogin Kifwakiou 2. Posting today on 'soc.culture.african': From: ben9925@my-dejanews.com Newsgroups: soc.culture.african Subject: U.S. CONSIDERS SWITCHING CONGO POLICY. Date: Thu, 01 Oct 1998 03:41:41 GMT Organization: Deja News - The Leader in Internet Discussion Lines: 35 EXCLUSIVE OFFICIAL SAYS U.S. CONSIDERS SWITCHING CONGO POLICY. Special To The Black Star News New York, September 30 - The United States may be on the verge of reversing its Demo- cratic Republic of Congo policy in light of overwhelming re- gional support for Laurent Kabila's government, a well-placed U.S. administration official has indicated. This apparent re- versal follows a meeting yesterday involving American officials with Ugandan and DRC representatives in New York City, The Black Star News has learned. The meeting was attended by Eriya Kategaya, the Ugandan deputy prime minister and foreign minister; the DRC team included Andre Kapanga, the country's U.N. representative. Phyllis Young, a State Department spokesperson said tonight, "I wouldn't necessarily know that the meeting happened. I wouldn't know that it did not happen." The U.S. - source said that during the meeting, the Ugandan mi- nister conceded his country's involvement in the fighting last month in Western Congo after the Congolese presented "overwhel- ming evidence" in front of the Americans. He would not elaborate on the evidence. "It's not clear whether this means the Americans will follow South Africa's example," the source said. South Africa first op- posed the intervention of Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia on Kabi- la's side. It later switched and endorsed the move saying DRC had a legitimate right to defend its territorial integrity. As many as 16 African countries now back Kabila, directly or in- directly. Meanwhile details continue to emerge about the rout of the Ugan- dan-Rwandan-rebel alliance by Angolan armed forces. The U.S. - source said the dead and wounded amounted to thousands. " It was so terrible that the Angolans felt sorry. They allowed them to use three Angolan transport planes to ferry their ca- sualties," he said. DRC officials declined comment. The Uganda U.N. Mission said Kategaya could not be reached tonight. Editor's note---For Questions about this report, contact The Black Star News at (212) 678-2088 or milton@blackstarnews.com or ben@blackstarnews.com Bookmark BSN http://www.blackstarnews.com 3. From : ZIMBAWBE READY FOR A DECISIVE COUNTER-OFFENSIVE (Le Potentiel, 29.09.98) *After the quiet on the eastern front* As early as on 18 September, Robert Mugabe and Sam Nujoma stated that many other African countries, others than those of the SADC [South African Development Community, comprising 14 coun- tries] were preparing to aid the DR Congo with troops. [Note: It has recently been reported elsewhere that Tchad is sending a contingent of some 1,000 soldiers. - RM] After the routing of the rebels and their masters on the western front, the FAC [Armed Forces of the DR Congo] and the allies, which have been redeployed to the east, so far have not engaged in major combats. True, air raids and attacks have been carried out against Kisan- gani, Kalemi and other places, but without this turning things in favour of the loyalists. The Mai-Mai, those traditional war- riors who are engaging in a separate struggle against the Tutsis in defence of their lands, have made two assaults, but without making the situation change either. One might think that the rebels are having an easy task in con- trolling the perimeters of Goma and the villages around it. Like an air bubble, the situation has quieted down to the point where one might think that a cease-fire were in existence. Each consolidating his own positions, the warring parties have seemed to prefer the diplomatic road for solving the conflict. Every- thing has been practically at a stillstand. Is it a warriors' rest or a tacitly-agreed cease-fire such as le Potentiel concluded was on, in its issue of Monday 28 Septem- ber? Everything indicates that it was only a warriors' rest, even if the Congolese minister of information and press stated, yesterday Monday, that the counter-offensive had been postponed in order to help the workings of diplomacy. According to the Zimbabwean general who commands the troops of his country in the Congo and who was quoted on Monday 28 September by the BBC, a counter-offensive is imminent in the eastern DRC. There are plans for this, he added. This statement, even if it contradicts the final communique of last Saturday from the Libreville summit, which had advanced the option of seeing the regional and international differences solved by dialogue and by negotiation, to a certain extent was confirmed by Laurent-Désiré Kabila in the Gabonese capital. Directly addressing himself to the Congolese living in Libre- ville on Wednesday 23 September, President Kabila let it be understood that at this time when the advance of national recon- struction is being held up by the war, the priority is to crush the invaders. "We are going to crush them", he added, "since by every day that passes they are more and more alone". No doubt Laurent-Désiré Kabila was counting on that diplomatic isolation which seems to be befalling Uganda and Rwanda, with one condemnation after the other directed against them. Condem- nations which still - it has to be pointed out - have not been followed by concrete initiatives above the level of the forming of observation committees. This war cry uttered by the Zimbabwean general did confirm - if you could say that there was any need for this - the analysis made by le Potentiel in our edition of 25 September, indicating that there had not been unanimity at the Libreville summit. As early as on 18 September, according to the New China news agen- cy, the Zimbabwean president had stated that several African countries were ready to support Kabila against the Tutsi rebels, not to forget either that he had declared that the allies of the DRC would stay until the situation had stabilised. On the same day, the Angolan president Sam Nujoma, who represen- ted the SADC at the Libreville summit, said to Zimbabwean tele- vision on his arrival in Harare returning from Mozambique, that Zinbabwe, Angola and Namibia had won the support of the African continent. Many other countries than those of the SADC, he said, are prepared to help the DRC with troops if President Kabila needs it. At the Durban summit as well as at that at Victoria Falls, the intervention by the Angolan, Zimbabwean and Namibian troops were judged to be legitimate. Will there be a development towards the confrontation of several African armies in the Congo? This is what is feared by the in- ternational community which is calling on them for a peaceful settlement of the crisis. Meanwhile, on the part of the aggres- sors, Uganda is brandishing threats to enter effectively the war in the DRC if at any time the presence of Sudanese soldiers on Congolese territory is confirmed. With a view towards harmonising their positions on this war, the Ugandan and Rwandan presidents as well as the leaders of the rebellion met on Ugandan soil last Saturday, but nothing has leaked out concerning the contents of their discussions. The next few days will be decisive ones. Le Potentiel ________________________________________________________________ "NEWS ON CONGO" postings bring statements by the Congo National Association in Sweden and the DR Congo Committee in Sweden and also reproduce information and analysis from other sources. For French-readers we recommend the sites Agence Congolaise de Presse, ACP: (temporarily closed from 16.08.98 on - but now, 12.09 etc, open again), Congonline (Belgium-based, brings info from various sources): , and also the sites and . Contact addresses: Congo National Association Box 5343 SE - 102 45 Stockholm Sweden Tel: +46 - 8 - 471 96 26 (chairman) +46 - 8 - 84 57 18 (facility) Fax: +46 - 8 - 751 26 06 DR Congo Committee (Chairman: Bony Ndjov-a-Shamalo) Box 17513 SE - 200 10 Malmoe Sweden Tel: +46 - 40 - 12 48 32 E-mail: congocomse@hotmail.com