DATE=12/31/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGO REBEL AMBUSH (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-257646
BYLINE=TODD PITMAN
DATELINE=KIGALI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A rebel leader in Congo-Kinshasa says his
troops killed 80 government soldiers in a river ambush
in the north of the country. As Todd Pitman reports
from the Rwandan capital, Kigali, the incident is part
of a wave of fresh fighting on the northwestern front.
TEXT: Rebel leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba, says his
troops attacked two large wooden canoes ferrying
government soldiers down the Congo river on Wednesday
near the northern town of Libanda.
Mr. Bemba says government troops tried to infiltrate
the town during the night, but were spotted and
ambushed.
He says one rebel was shot dead in the incident when
government forces fired back.
There was no independent confirmation of the report.
Mr. Bemba's rebel group, the Congolese Liberation
Movement, controls territories in the north with help
from its key backer, Uganda.
Congolese President Laurent Kabila, aided by troops
from Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, has struggled for a
year and a half to put down rebel groups backed by
Uganda and Rwanda that control the north and east of
the country.
A peace accord signed in the Zambian capital, Lusaka,
several months ago by all sides involved in the
conflict, has done little to stop fighting on the
northwestern front.
Mr. Bemba says government troops have in the last few
days attacked three towns in Equator province -
Libanda, Dongo and Nkonya - but he says those attacks
were repulsed.
A delegation representing Mr. Bemba's group met
government officials on Thursday in Bangui, capital of
the neighboring Central African Republic.
Rebel officials say President Kabila requested the
meeting, which was chaired by Central African Republic
President Ange-Felix Patasse, in an effort to
reconcile the two sides.
Mr. Bemba says rebels insisted at the meeting that the
Lusaka peace accord was the only way out of the
crisis. (SIGNED)
NEB/TP/GE/JO
31-Dec-1999 07:40 AM EDT (31-Dec-1999 1240 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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