Congo uprising shatters dream
Fewer than 18 months since he led a campaign backed by Rwanda, Uganda and Angola to oust Mobutu Sese Seko of the then Zaire, Mr Kabila yesterday looked in danger of being toppled by his former allies. According to sources throughout eastern Congo, ethnic Tutsis who formed the backbone of his Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo in 1996, have attacked the towns of Goma and Bukavu on Lake Kivu, as well as Uvira and Kisangani, the country's third-largest city which controls shipping on the River Congo.
The sudden uprising, led by his own 10th Battalion of mainly Banyamulenge (Tutsi) fighters, began in Uvira, the eastern town from where Mr Kabila began his march on Kinshasa more than 1,000 miles to the west in October 1996. Heavy fighting with artillery and mortars was reported from all the flashpoints, indicating that the Tutsi soldiers appear well co-ordinated in their attempts to depose Mr Kabila.
These failings led to the downfall of his predecessor, and to a plan hatched by the leaders of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Rwanda, and Angola to clean up the many areas of instability in central and west Africa.
The mood of change was taken up by Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's deputy president, who said last year the `African renaissance' was imminent. But the concept died at birth as its midwives squabbled along the borders of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
(The Times, London)
- SAM KILEY
