Military

DATE=4/27/2004

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=(CQ) RWANDA / D-R-C/ TROOPS (L-O)

NUMBER=2-315406

BYLINE=CATHY MAJTENYI

DATELINE=

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

/// EDS: REFILING TO ELIMINATE TWO KAREGEYA ACTS, WHICH WERE INAUDIBLE ///

INTRO: The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo says the recent buildup of troops by Rwanda along the borders of Rwanda, Burundi and Congo poses a threat to peace efforts in the area. Cathy Majtenyi reports from V-O-A's East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

TEXT: A spokeswoman for the U-N peacekeeping mission in Congo, Eliane Nabaa, says she is unclear why the Rwandan government is massing its troops along the borders when it is unlikely that Hutu rebels in D-R-C are planning a large-scale attack against Rwanda.

/// NABAA ACT ///

When there were these claims that they were preparing a massive attack, in fact, the U-N observers did not witness any real massive preparation for an attack.

/// END ACT ///

Ms. Nabaa says the United Nations is in the midst of voluntarily repatriating the Hutu rebels back to Rwanda for disarmament and reintegration. She says, since the signing of a regional peace deal in 2002, the United Nations has repatriated some 11-thousand Rwanda rebels. She says there are about eight-thousand more Hutu rebels in D-R-C.

The presence of Hutu rebels in D-R-C is a sensitive issue. After Rwanda's 1994 genocide in which Hutu extremists killed up to 800-thousand Tutsis and moderate Hutus, Hutu militiamen and soldiers fled to neighboring D-R-C to hide. In the process, the rebels killed many Congolese troops and civilians.

While the U-N peacekeeping mission says it does not believe Hutu rebels are organizing massive strikes against Rwanda, Rwandan officials see it differently.

A Rwandan army spokesman, Colonel Patrick Karegeya, says Hutu rebels attacked places along the D-R-C and Burundian borders on April 7th, 8th and 9th. He says that in one battle, 16 rebels were killed and the rest fled back to D-R-C.

Colonel Karegeya estimates there are more than 15-thousand Hutu rebels still hiding out in D-R-C. He says that contrary to what the United Nations says, no Hutu rebels have been disarmed and repatriated back to Rwanda. Those who have returned, he says, have done so on their own.

He also denies allegations by the U-N peacekeeping mission that Rwandan troops were spotted in D-R-C.

Colonel Karegeya says Rwanda is willing to help the U-N peacekeeping mission disarm the Hutu rebels. He says the Rwandan army will continue to wait along the borders and fight back in case they are attacked. (Signed)

NEB/CM/ALW/KL