DATE=5/21/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGO/MASSACRE (L-O)
NUMBER=2-262615
BYLINE=TODD PITMAN
DATELINE=KIGALI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo are
reported to have killed 300-civilians in an eastern
province. But as Todd Pitman reports from the Rwandan
capital Kigali, a senior U-N official says the death
toll is likely much lower.
TEXT: The Rome-based missionary news service, MISNA,
says rebel troops shot and hacked to death 300 people,
including women and children. The deaths occurred the
night of May 14th in Katogota, a small village in the
eastern Congolese province of South Kivu.
But a senior humanitarian adviser to the United
Nations, Charles Petrie, says the death toll is
probably much lower. He says seven to 31 civilians
were killed in a crossfire between Burundian militia
fighters and rebels near Katogota.
Mr. Petrie says the lower estimate is based on reports
from villagers and the local Red Cross. But no side
has been able to confirm exactly what happened.
Rebel spokesman Kin-Kiey Mulumba says heavy clashes
between rebels and pro-government militia fighters
took place in Katogota, but he could not confirm or
deny the massacre report.
Mr. Mulumba says the rebels sent a team (Sunday) to
investigate the charges and find out whether rebel
troops were to blame.
Mr. Petrie says the killings fit a long pattern of
violence in the region. It pits the rebels against a
coalition of militia groups including traditional
Congolese Mai-Mai fighters, Burundian rebels, and
Rwandan Hutu extremists responsible for Rwanda's 1994
genocide.
Three rebel factions control northern and eastern
Congo with backing from Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi.
They are fighting against Congolese President Laurent
Kabila, whose army is backed by troops from Zimbabwe,
Angola, and Namibia.
The U-N advisor says about 500-thousand people have
been displaced by violence in the eastern provinces of
North and South Kivu since the start of this year.
(SIGNED)
NEB/SS/ALW/RAE
21-May-2000 11:35 AM EDT (21-May-2000 1535 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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