DATE=8/17/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=UGANDA / RWANDA FIGHTING
NUMBER=5-44073
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Ugandan and Rwandan troops are fighting deep
inside rebel-held Congo. As V-O-A's Scott Stearns
reports, the long-time allies are at odds over what to
do with a rebellion they have spent more than a year
supporting.
TEXT: This is an alliance long in the making, sealed
the day rebels took power in Rawanda five years ago.
Those rebels came from refugee camps across the border
in Uganda, camps where -- years earlier -- Ugandan
rebel, Yoweri Museveni, drew support. Mr. Museveni
eventually took power in Uganda with the help of these
Rwandan refugees, who were mostly ethnic Tutsi
displaced by Juvenal Habyarmimana's predominantly Hutu
government.
President Museveni asked President Habyarimana to take
the Tutsi back. President Habyarimana said there was
no room in Rwanda for more people. So Rwandan refugees
in the Ugandan army became Rwandan rebels, led by
President Museveni's chief of military intelligence,
Paul Kagame.
After three years of fighting, Mr. Kagame's rebels
took Rwanda, ending the genocide of ethnic Tutsi and
politically moderate Hutu. The former government army
responsible for that violence fled across the border
into Zaire.
Former rebel comrades, Mr. Museveni and Mr. Kagame now
run their countries -- Mr. Museveni as Uganda's
President, Mr. Kagame as Rwanda's Defense Minister.
Together, they set about to protect their western
flank against cross-border raids from Zaire. That
meant instigating a civil war against Zairian dictator
Mobutu Sese Seko, a rebellion that drove across the
country under Ugandan and Rwandan command, installing
Laurent Kabila in power in Kinshasa in less than a
year.
But Mr. Kabila's Congo proved no more useful in
preventing cross-border raids into Uganda and Rwanda.
Things deteriorated between the former allies.
Business deals to benefit Ugandan and Rwandan concerns
collapsed. Mr. Kabila grew suspicious of Rwandans in
his security forces.
A new rebellion began a year ago directed by many of
the same Rwandan and Ugandan advisors who put Mr.
Kabila in power. They gambled on a lightning
strike west to take the capital. That failed and
President Museveni and Defense Minister Kagame found
themselves again in a costly ground war through Congo.
The problem now is changing attitudes about what that
ground war is for. Uganda is already far enough inside
Congo to defend its borders, far enough to position
itself for considerable commercial advantage from
timber, diamonds, tea, and gold.
Ugandans are beginning to question the expense of such
a military commitment. For President Museveni, the war
could be over now and he would have pretty much what
he wants.
Rwanda certainly shares economic ambitions, but it is
more driven by pursuing those responsible for the 1994
genocide, members of the former army and extremist
militias who have now signed-up with Mr. Kabila.
Rwanda's leaders feel that unless those men are hunted
down or brought to justice, they will inevitably
return to the country sewing ethnic unrest. For
Defense Minister Kagame, the war is far from over.
Those different priorities have come to a head in
Kisangani. The rebel leader Uganda supports wants to
sign a peace deal, leaving things pretty much as they
are while there is a long national conference. That is
good for business.
The rebel leader Rwanda supports says there can be no
deal until his Ugandan-backed rival gives up claims to
the rebel leadership. That keeps the war going.
Kisangani is the most important commercial center in
rebel-held Congo, a key river port now divided between
these two rebel factions and two former allies.
Gaining complete control over Kisangani would define
Uganda's stake in northern Congo, giving President
Museveni the room to make a separate peace with Mr.
Kabila if he feels it is no longer worth backing
Rwanda and its Congolese rebels battling-on in the
south.
That is not to say that President Museveni would not
enjoy bringing Mr. Kabila down. He feels betrayed by
the former rebel leader and sees time and opportunity
lost by another war.
But if the benefits of continuing that war do not
appreciably improve Uganda's already strong position
in Congo, President Museveni may preserve the option
of getting out while he is ahead.
Regional diplomats say that is why the biggest rebel
force in northern Congo, led by a wealthy businessman
backed by Uganda, is the only rebel group which has
signed the peace deal with Mr. Kabila. (SIGNED)
NEB/SS/GE
17-Aug-1999 09:25 AM LOC (17-Aug-1999 1325 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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