The New York Times

Tuesday, January 25, 2000

At U.N., 7 African Leaders Discuss Ending Congo War

By BARBARA CROSSETTE

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 24 -- Confronting an array of African leaders at a special Security Council session today, the president of Congo, Laurent Kabila, pledged to cooperate with international efforts to end a civil war in his country now involving troops from more than half a dozen nations.

But he also took the opportunity to trade bitter accusations with former regional allies who have sent soldiers to back a rebellion against him. Both sides demonstrated the rancor that surrounds the issue and has stalled a six-month-old peace agreement.

Mr. Kabila, making his first trip to the United States, is taking part in several days of high-level discussions on how to put the peace pact into effect and back it with a United Nations peacekeeping operation for Congo. He was one of seven African presidents who spoke today.

The Clinton administration, represented today by Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, will have to sell the idea to Congress, which has reservations about another expensive mission with no promise of success. In fact, the administration has agreed to notify Congress about any future peacekeeping operation before voting for it here.

Dr. Albright, presiding over the council, spoke in graphic terms about the level to which the Congo war -- which she called "Africa's first world war" -- has descended.

"The most disturbing aspect of the conflict," she told the council, "has been the horrific abuse of fundamental human rights by all sides. We have even heard credible reports recently of women being buried alive in the eastern Congo. There is no rationale of past grievance, political allegiance or ethnic difference that excuses murder, torture, rape or other abuse. Here, today, we must vow to halt these crimes and to bring those who commit them to justice under due process of law."

Mr. Kabila, on the defensive after delaying the groundwork of United Nations military liaison officials for months, said that a "misunderstanding" had blocked their deployment but that this had been corrected.

"I should like to say in all sincerity," Mr. Kabila told the Security Council, "that you can count on me and my delegation to discuss, openly and seriously, ways and means of putting an end to this tragic war so that together we can rebuild a region so that our countries can live in peace."

But the level of venom remained high when Mr. Kabila characterized his enemies, whom he named as Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, as "former allies who are today invading my country." He accused them of a range of crimes from forced recruitment of exiled ethnic Hutu and the plundering of diamonds, cobalt, gold and zebras in Congo territory. He also blamed rebels for destroying polio vaccines so that six million children could not be vaccinated.

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, who supports Mr. Kabila with troops, called the Congo conflict "a war that never should have taken place," and he blamed a lack of consultation in Africa for its growing out of control.

But he also made the most impassioned call for international help. He said the Security Council should have acted long ago to send in peacekeepers. He accused members of lethargy and "foot dragging."

"We now say the time has come for prompt action," he said. "The Security Council still has an opportunity to redeem itself."

Richard C. Holbrooke, the American representative, has said in recent weeks that it is necessary to get any mission right before initiating it, or the Congo will be added to a list of United Nations failures.

Security Council members have started to work on a resolution creating a peacekeeping force for Congo, while also supervising a military mission in Sierra Leone. The United Nations is also involved in trying to defuse a renewed crisis in Burundi and end a standoff between Eritrea and Ethiopia, among other crises.

The Congo war has its roots in the civil wars between ethnic Tutsi and Hutu in Burundi and Rwanda in 1993 and 1994 and the huge flow of refugees into what was then Zaire after genocidal attacks on Tutsi by Hutu in Rwanda. Those attacks were followed by the flight of Hutu when a Tutsi-led army took power in Rwanda several months later. In the midst of the ensuing confusion, Mr. Kabila began his rebellion against Zaire's dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko. By May 1997, Mr. Kabila, then with the backing of Rwanda and Uganda, had seized power in the Zairean capital, Kinshasa, and reverted to calling the nation Congo.

As one cycle of war led to the next in eastern Congo, where Hutu exiles still operate, the Tutsi-led governments of Rwanda and Burundi, along with Uganda, switched loyalties and now support rebels against Mr. Kabila.

Secretary General Kofi Annan turned the spotlight back on Africans in his opening speech. "The entire sub-region has been engulfed in a crisis of such complexity that it continues to defy our best efforts to solve it," he said. "On a long list of needs, wisdom and statesmanship, as well as an understanding of the limits of the use of force, are at the top."

Last week, Mr. Annan recommended that 500 cease-fire observers be sent to Congo, with 5,000 troops to back them up. But diplomats are wary of authorizing any troops or monitors until all sides in the war honor their promises to observe the cease-fire they agreed to in July.

The African presidents who spoke at today's council session were, in addition to Mr. Kabila and Mr. Mugabe, Frederick Chiluba of Zambia; Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique; Jos Eduardo do Santos of Angola; Yoweri Museveni of Uganda; and Pasteur Bizimungu of Rwanda. Rwanda's defense minister and the strongest figure in the government, Paul Kagame, did not attend. Some diplomats say that he will have to be a pivotal player in bringing peace to Congo.