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BUKAVU, Congo (AP) — A renegade commander pulled his remaining troops out of this strategic city in eastern Congo on Sunday, four days after setting off a crisis in the volatile region by seizing Bukavu.
But violence continued as assailants ambushed a U.N. convoy in an unrelated incident in North Kivu province, killing two South African peacekeepers and wounding nine others, a U.N. official said. The fall of Bukavu was the most serious setback to Congo's transitional government since it was set up last June to end the five-year conflict in Africa's third-largest country. The crisis also further strained already poor relations between Congo and neighboring Rwanda. The government accused Rwanda of supporting the uprising, allegations denied by Rwandan officials. Rwanda closed its border with Congo on Sunday because of the accusations, Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Muligande said. The charges are a "serious provocation," the Rwandan government said, accusing Congo of preparing to wage war against Rwanda with the help of Rwandan rebels based in Congo. Gen. Laurent Nkunda, whose forces captured Bukavu on Wednesday, drove out of the city in a convoy of two vehicles accompanied by about a dozen troops. Other fighters piled into trucks on the outskirts of the city and headed to Kavumu, a small town 22 miles north of Bukavu. "I'm out of here," Nkunda told The Associated Press as he left. The bulk of Nkunda's forces withdrew on Friday, setting up camps on the outskirts of the city after U.N. troops took charge of security. But dozens of his fighters had remained to protect his commanders and key installations. A second renegade commander, Col. Jules Mutebutsi, said he would remain in Bukavu, an important trading center on the border with Rwanda. Mutebutsi said his fighters — who battled alongside Nkunda's forces — would be quartered in camps while efforts were made to resolve the crisis. During the civil war, Nkunda and Mutebutsi were commanders in the main rebel group, the Congolese Rally for Democracy, which joined the transitional government when it was established. Rwanda backed the insurgents during the civil conflict and sent thousands of troops into Congo when the war erupted in August 1998. The conflict sucked in at least six foreign armies and killed an estimated 3.3 million people, mainly through war-induced disease and famine. Rwandan troops withdrew in November 2002, but Koudoua Kassango, President Joseph Kabila's spokesman, said Rwandan forces were back in eastern Congo. "The Rwandan troops are there. ...They have been reported present around Walikale," 93 miles northwest of Bukavu, Kassango told The Associated Press in Kinshasa, the capital. He said he expected parliament to ratify the call for a state of emergency on Monday. U.N. troops sent to Walikale on Saturday, however, reported that it was under the control of government forces, said Jacqueline Chenard, a U.N spokeswoman, adding that there were no sightings of Rwandan troops. Most of Congo has been relatively peaceful since the transitional administration took office, but eastern and northeastern Congo have remained volatile. The two South African peacekeepers were killed when two U.N. trucks were ambushed in Rugari, 25 miles north of Goma, Chenard said. Residents said the attackers were Rwandan insurgents based in eastern Congo, Chenard said. Rwandan rebels, including members of the former Rwandan army and extremist Interahamwe militia, have been based in eastern Congo since leading the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in which 500,000 people were killed. The Rwandan government first sent troops into Congo to pursue the insurgents, and accused the Congolese government of harboring the rebels. Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel left Sunday for Kinshasa on in a bid to ease tension caused by the renewed violence in eastern Congo. He also planned talks in Rwanda and Uganda, the Belgian Foreign Ministry said. Belgium was Congo's colonial ruler until independence in 1960. Both Nkunda and Mutebutsi were integrated into the national army after the transitional government was set up, but later fell out with their commanders. Nkunda claims he has more than 4,000 troops, while Mutebutsi is estimated to have several hundred fighters. They say they launched their assault Wednesday because the regional military commander assigned by the Kinshasa government — Brig. Gen. Mbuza Mabe — was persecuting members of a Tutsi community, the Banyamulenge. Both renegade commanders are members of Congo's Tutsi community. "We are leaving to let the government install the governor and send a delegation to investigate the massacres of the Banyamulenge," Nkunda said. "I had only one objective — to liberate the Banyamulenge from massacres." The government appointed governors to the nation's 11 provinces last month, but the new governor of South Kivu province has yet to take up his post. Mutebutsi, who was based in Bukavu when he was integrated into the national army, said he was staying because his fighters belonged there as part of the army. "This our home and there's nowhere else for us to go," Mutebutsi said. The fall of Bukavu sparked two days of violent protests against the government and United Nations' in Kinshasa and other cities as Congolese blamed the United Nations for failing to intervene. At least 12 people were killed and 83 wounded in the riots in the capital, a medical official in Kinshasa, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Saturday. Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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