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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Rebel factions in New York
Congolese rebel factions showed up in New York, despite the fact they were not officially invited to attend talks aimed at ending war in their country. The Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) was represented by its president Emile Ilunga and its chief of intelligence Bizima Karaha. Ernest Wamba dia Wamba and other officials represented the RCD-Mouvement de liberation (RCD-ML). Only Jean-Pierre Bemba's Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) stayed away.
The rebels were not allowed into official meetings of the Security Council but met UN officials and representatives of foreign governments in their hotels. "Without New York, I think in some few months Lusaka would be dead," the Associated Press quoted Bizima Karaha as saying. Wamba Dia Wamba was also optimistic about the outcome of the talks. "What we thought was very good was that there was some unity of viewpoints from the African leaders," he told AP.
DRC: RCD troops reportedly kill 10 Hutu rebels
Rebels of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) on Thursday claimed they carried out a major swoop against Rwandan and Burundi Hutu rebels in the area of Shabunda, some 100 km northwest of Bukavu in South Kivu. "Our troops foiled a major attack those rogue forces were preparing to launch on Bukavu town," the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) quoted RCD's Vice-President Moise Nyarugabo as saying. He said RCD troops gave a "bloody nose" to the combination of Interahamwe Hutu militia and their Burundi allies of the Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD). "We killed 10 of the assailants, others scattered in the forest," he said. "A number of weapons and boxes of drugs were also captured."
RWANDA: National anti-corruption commission to be set up
The Rwandan government is planning to set up a national anti-corruption commission, "which will be a tool in uprooting the evil in the Rwandan society", the Rwandan News Agency (RNA) reported on Thursday. It quoted the president of the current anti-corruption commission, Justice Minister Jean de Dieu Mucyo, as saying his commission has up to now been dealing with corruption in the judicial sector where a number of prosecutors and other judicial officials have been either expelled or arrested on charges of bribery. "Corruption which seems to be taking root in all sectors, is a result mainly of greed and the wish to get rich in the shortest time possible, as it has been realised that most common form of corruption is bribery," he said.
A code of conduct is being prepared and will soon be presented to the cabinet for approval. "If it is adopted, it will require every candidate to an official post to declare his or her property before taking up the post," RNA said. "The additional property the person will gain after assuming power will be accounted for," it added.
BURUNDI: Burundi, Tanzania defence ministers to meet
Burundian and Tanzanian defence ministers are set to meet on Saturday in Bujumbura to discuss "ways of strengthening defence and security" along border areas of the two countries. Tanzanian radio on Friday said the meeting will discuss how to control the problems caused by ongoing fighting between the army and the rebels in Burundi. It said that this meeting will be preceded by a meeting of the army chiefs to review reports on the implementation of decisions taken at a similar meeting held in Kigoma last year.
BURUNDI: "Many" rebels reportedly crossing into east
Meanwhile, "many" armed rebels are reportedly crossing into Gisuru commune in eastern Burundi from the Gitenga area of Tanzania, the private Burundian news agency Azania reported on Wednesday. It quoted an eyewitness in the commune as saying about 100-150 men were sighted in the area. Azania also quoted military sources as acknowledging the existence of rebel command posts in Gitenga and Kibondo, which act as centres for "liaison" and "supply of ammunition".
Nairobi, 28 January 2000, 11:20 gmt
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