Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 07:31:42 -0500
Sender: The African Global Experience <AGE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From: Marpessa Kupendua <nattyreb@IX.NETCOM.COM>
Subject: !*Kabila promises crackdown on Mai-Mai
To: AGE-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
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>Date: Sat, 07 Feb 1998 10:54:35 -0600
>From: Michael Novick <mnovick@laedu.lalc.k12.ca.us>
>Subject: Kabila promises crackdown on Mai-Mai
Kabila vows to end Mai-Mai revolt in eastern Congo
By Arthur Malu-Malu, Friday 6 February 1998, 6:26 PM GMT
KINSHASA, Feb 6 (Reuters)—President Laurent Kabila vowed on Friday to crack down on his former armed allies, the Mai-Mai, who are blamed for continuing unrest in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kabila also accused unnamed international organisations of manipulating the Mai-Mai, whom he linked to the ousted regime of the former Zaire's late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
The famous Mai-Mai are losing ground. Some have fled into to the
Kabare region,
Kabila told reporters in Kinshasa on his return
from a week-long stay in the southern city of Lubumbashi.
The Mai-Mai are small groups of politicians of the former regime
who are manipulated by certain international organisations who do not
wish to see Congo rebuilt,
he said.
We've warned that that we'll bring under control the
security situation in the Lake Tanganyika and the Lake Kivu
regions,
Kabila added, referring to the troubled areas.
He said steps had been taken to bolster security along the border with Rwanda and Burundi. Kabila's government accuses Hutu rebels fighting the Tutsi-led governments in Rwanda and Burundi of trying to use eastern Congo as rear bases.
Both Rwanda and Burundi backed Kabila's seven-month rebellion which ended Mobutu's 32-year rule last May. Mobutu himself died in exile in Morocco in September.
The mountainous surroundings of Bukavu have for months been scene of a low-level conflict between forces loyal to Kabila and a combination of local Mai-Mai rebels and Hutu militia.
North and South Kivu provinces which border Rwanda and Burundi have been plagued for years by ethnic strife.
Mai-Mai rebels who originally fought alongside Kabila's Alliance forces during his rebellion against Mobutu have since teamed up with neighbouring Hutus to fight for traditional land rights and against ethnic Tutsis they say dominate the region.
Last December their combined forces attacked the centre of Bukavu, rekindling insecurity in the region after several weeks of relative calm. Kabila visited the provincial town last month for talks with regional authorities on the tensions.