|
Thu Feb 3, 9:57 AM ET |
|
By BRYAN MEALER, Associated Press Writer
KINSHASA, Congo - The nervous young general sat slumped in the corner of the empty bar, smoking cigarettes past the filter and keeping his eyes on the door.
In most countries, Germain Katanga, accused of butchering hundreds of people as a militia commander in eastern Congo, would likely be standing trial. But in Congo, he was recently made a decorated general in the government's army, part of a power-sharing plan that ended Congo's 1998-2002 war.
Last month, Katanga was one of five former militia commanders from volatile Ituri province to be given top posts in the army by President Joseph Kabila.
Katanga was the leader of the Patriotic Force of Resistance in Ituri, a militia of ethnic Lendu fighters, who often punctuate their macabre village raids by eating the still-warm hearts and livers of their dead.
The 29-year old commander arrived in Kinshasa three weeks ago, trading a remote bush camp for the concierges, air conditioning and cable TV of a suite at the Grand Hotel. And while his scrappy, pubescent fighters often superstitiously wear ball gowns and ratty blonds wigs during their raids, Katanga can expect a proper general's suit complete with pins and patches.
For an interview with The Associated Press this week, he wore a green sweat shirt, jeans and a gold watch. Two bottles of local Skol beer sat empty in front of him. His attention often drifted between the door and a distant radio, which broadcast a soccer match between Congo and neighboring Rwanda, a sworn enemy of the Lendu.
Even with legitimacy now on his side, Katanga appeared uncomfortable. For the interview, he requested "a secret meeting place" and demanded the driver pick him and his entourage as they walked "like normal people" along Kinshasa's main boulevard, blocks away from the hotel. He refused to be photographed.
"I never planned to be a general," Katanga said. "Perhaps it's been decided by God," he said, adding one day he wouldn't mind being president, too.
Human rights groups hope Katanga will one day stand trial instead. Last week, New York-based Human Rights Watch released a report detailing the crimes of all newly appointed commanders and condemned the government for ignoring them.
The report mentions the attack on the town of Nyakunde in September 2002, when witnesses say Katanga's troops butchered 1,200 people over a ten-day reign of terror, in particular those belonging to their rival Hema tribe. At one point, Lendu fighters entered a church hospital, checked the roster, then went from bed to bed, hacking to death suspected Hema, the report said.
"Those weren't my men," said Katanga, refusing to elaborate.
The report and witnesses also put Katanga in Bunia in May 2003, when drunken Lendu fighters went door to door, pulling Hema residents from their homes and shooting them in the streets.
Witnesses in Bunia at the time said Lendu fighters painted their faces coal-black and paraded the severed hands of their victims down the boulevard. The young fighters were also seen eating the livers and hearts of people they'd killed.
A small United Nations (news - web sites) force in Bunia was quickly overrun as Lendu and Hema fighters together killed at least 500 people that week.
"If it's true we attacked Bunia, it was to save our own lives," said Katanga. "And to save all of Congo against aggressors."
This week, the U.N. announced 18 people had been killed and 34 kidnapped by Lendu fighters in the area of Che, 40 miles north of Bunia. It's unclear if the fighters belonged to any particular group.
"Che?" asked Katanga. "Never heard of it."
During Congo's grisly five-year, six-nation war, both Uganda and Rwanda armed and trained Lendu and Hema militias, mainly to wrest control of the mineral-rich territory. Both sides also fought against Uganda before it withdrew its troops in May 2003.
Katanga said he became a fighter after watching Hema bully the Lendu as a kid growing up in Ituri. Hema are traditionally the landowning, educated elite, who garnered favor from colonial Belgium and later former president Mobutu Sese Seko. Katanga said he hopes to use his general's post to defend his people, who he says have long been exploited and misunderstood.
"I'm a defender, not an oppressor," he said, motioning for the waitress to bring another beer.
The young general then walked to the front door and peeked his head outside, scanning the darkness for unseen enemies.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
_______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list Ugandanet@kym.net http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
