Sent: Friday, April 04, 2003 5:20 AM
Subject: [rwanda-l] Rwanda Troops Marching To Ituri - New
Vision
Rwanda Troops Marching To Ituri –Security
By Emmy Allio SECURITY sources in Kampala yesterday claimed that
two brigades of Rwandan soldiers had taken control of Bunyantenge and Muhanga
towns in Lubero zone in North Kivu province. Congolese church leaders,
politicians and traders said Rwandan soldiers commanded by officers of the
Kigali-backed RCD-Goma rebels were matching northwards to Ituri district and
Kasese in Uganda. Over 100,000 people in Butembo and over 20,000 people in
Kanyabayonga and Lubero on Wednesday demonstrated against what they said was a
Rwandan invasion. The protestors accused the United Nations Observer Mission
In Congo (MONUC) of conniving with the Rwandans in the Kigali government’s plot
to ‘colonise’ Congo. Bishop Melchisedek Sikuli of Butembo on Wednesday said
demonstrators destroyed two vehicles belonging MONUC, damaged a third and
destroyed MONUC offices in Lubero and Kanyabayonga. Sikuli said villages
occupied by the Rwandans include Kyavingonge, Bingi and the southern parts of
Maiko National Parks. He said, “I have learnt that the Rwandan army wants to
link with UPC near Irumu to fight the UPDF in Ituri. The international community
should turn its attention on this Rwandan aggression.” He said Rwandan
soldiers had been seen last weekend in Kirumba, Kayla and Kanyambayonga in the
Lubero area of North Kivu Province on their way back into the DRC. He said
thousands of people were fleeing the reported incursion and that 152 internally
displaced persons (IDPs) had arrived in Kyimba, having fled Pinga in the
Walikale area, where the presence of Rwandan soldiers was first reported. He
said another 1,227 IDPs from Pinga had arrived in Kayla on Wednesday. “MONUC
are liars. We see Rwandan soldiers, but MONUC tells us that the invaders are
RCD-Goma. We also know that RCD-Goma has no army. We shall resist the invasion,”
the source in Butembo said on a Satelite link. MONUC yesterday denounced a
spate of attacks against its forces in three locations in North Kivu Province.
In a statement from its Kinshasa headquarters, MONUC said demonstrators
dressed as students attacked its base at Kanyabayonga on Wednesday, looting
equipment from buildings housing MONUC observers. In a similar attack in
Lubero, property belonging to the mission was destroyed. On Tuesday,
demonstrators took part in an anti-MONUC march in Beni. The statement described
“such acts of vandalism” against the peacekeepers as “unacceptable” and in
violation of international agreements. “We have upto-date information that
Rwanda sent two brigades recently and disguised them by giving them an RCD-Goma
commander. The Rwanda Defence Forces are mixed with the People’s Redemption Army
(PRA),” a Ugandan security source said. The sources said the RDF and PRA
intend to overrun Butembo and Beni and then confront the UPDF in Kasese and in
Ituri where they hope to link with Thomas Lubanga’s Union for Patriotic
Congolese rebels. The pro-Kinshasa government RCD-ML led by Mbusa Nyamwisi
and Bishop Sikuli, said Rwandan soldiers numbering 3,000 are headed by an
RCD-Goma officer called Bonane. Security sources said Rwanda had moved over
20,000 soldiers from its second and third divisions on the borders with Uganda
and Congo and the forces are ready to join those inside the DRC. Sources
said RDF’s 503rd brigade is in Nyakatare, 201st brigade in Byumba, 205th brigade
in south Byumba, 405th brigade in Ruhengeri and 402nd brigade is in Gisengyi.
“Despite this mounting RDF and PRA presence, the UPDF has not increased its
troops by even a soldier. We want the global community to see the true colours
of the Rwandans,” a military officer said. Defence minister Amama Mbabazi
recently condemned the presence of Kinshasa soldiers in Beni and Butembo saying
it was a violation of the Lusaka agreement. On Friday, Rwanda denied that
its troops had entered the DRC. Rwandan special envoy for the DRC Patrick
Mazimpaka told the UN news agency, IRIN, that civilians might have mistaken
members of some of the fighting groups in eastern DRC for
Rwandans.Ends
Published on: Friday, 4th April, 2003
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