DATE=8/5/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGO BOMBING (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-252517
BYLINE=TODD PITMAN
DATELINE=KIGALI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Democratic Republic of Congo rebel leader
Jean-Pierre Bemba says the death toll in a bombing
raid in northern Congo on Wednesday has risen to at
least 524. As Todd Pitman reports from Kigali, rebel
leaders say the bombing has dimmed hopes for peace to
end the country's year-long war.
TEXT: Rebel chief Jean-Pierre Bemba says six more
bodies were found in a small village called Boginda.
Three-quarters of those killed are said to be
civilians. The remainder were rebel soldiers.
There has been no independent confirmation of the
attack and few details have emerged. But rebel
leaders are blaming the raid on a high-altitude
Sudanese bomber, flying on behalf of the government of
Congolese president Laurent Kabila.
Mr. Bemba says the plane dropped 18 bombs on Makanza
and Bogbonga -- two rebel-held fishing villages on the
Congo River some 800-kilometers northeast of the
capital Kinshasa.
Sudan has repeatedly denied involvement in the
conflict, but both Rwandan and rebel officials say the
Khartoum government is providing air support for long
distance bombing raids that have killed dozens in the
north over the last several months.
Mr. Bemba's Congolese liberation movement, or M-L-C,
controls territories in the northern province of
Equator, and is heavily backed by Uganda forces, who
are also opposed to Sudan.
The main rebel group, the Rwandan-backed Congolese
Rally for Democracy, or R-C-D, meanwhile controls most
of eastern Congo.
Six African governments involved in the fighting
signed a cease-fire accord in the Zambian capital last
month, including Rwanda and Uganda -- which back the
rebels -- and Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe, which back
president Kabila.
Internal divisions within the R-C-D prevented it from
signing the accord, but the M-L-C signed on Sunday.
Mr. Bemba says the attack has shattered the peace
deal, but he will speak to Zambian president Frederick
Chiluba, who is mediating the crisis, before making
his next move.
R-C-D spokesman Lambert Mende says the bombing raid
shows President Kabila cannot be trusted and has not
encouraged the rebels to sign the accord. (Signed)
NEB/TP/PCF/ENE/gm
05-Aug-1999 13:17 PM EDT (05-Aug-1999 1717 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
