Text:
http://www.africanews.org/central/congo-kinshasa/stories/19990417_feat3.html
Source App: [UPDF Guard Congo Rebel Chief Wamba - Netscape]
UPDF Guard Congo Rebel Chief Wamba
April 17, 1999
Kampala - The Rwandan squad guarding the leader of the Congolese Rally for
Democracy (RCD) rebels, Prof. Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, has been replaced with a
Ugandan unit commanded by Major Reuben Ikondere.
This follows a dispute that erupted when Ugandan soldiers last week arrested several RCD rebels accused of indiscipline. Sources said Brig. James Kazini, who heads UPDF operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, ordered the arrests. Wamba has since shifted his headquarters from the Lake Kivu shore town of Goma to Kisangani, Congo's third largest city. Kisangani is also the headquarters of the UPDF and Jean-Pierre Bemba's Congolese Liberation Movement.
Bemba and Wamba said Thursday they have put their differences aside and plan to form a united front. Sources said Wamba fled growing conflicts and misunderstandings between him and others who are opposed to his merger with Bemba.
But in a telephone interview last week Wamba denied he had fled and said, "People should understand that I have a right to establish my headquarters anywhere." He denied there were splits in the RCD. Ugandan security sources said the rebel soldiers were arrested in order to stop disorder. "They were becoming real trouble-makers," a source said. At the Nile Hotel, Kampala Thursday, Wamba told journalists, "We have been holding talks with Bemba on how we can work together. Our ultimate aim is to merge into one political and military force but we are not yet ready now as it is too early."
"There were just some little differences but on the whole there was no fundamental divide between us," Bemba said. The two guerrilla leaders have been commanding different fronts in their campaign to remove their former ally Kabila, and between them have captured a chunk of territory in the east of the vast country.
Wamba said authorities in Zimbabwe, which is fighting alongside Kabila's forces, want to have direct talks with him. The Rwandan and Ugandan supported rebels are fighting Kabila's government propped up by support from Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and Chad. "I have got a series of telephone calls from authorities in Zimbabwe. They want to talk to me at any place. I have not yet replied but I think they want to quit from Congo. They want a honorary exit," Wamba said. Talks aimed at achieving a cease-fire are being held in Zambia.
The rebel leaders said they have sent representatives there. Despite the Lusaka talks, the rebels said military victories are being registered on the ground with their forces moving towards the towns of Mbuji Mayi, Lubumbashi and Gbadolite.
"The enemy is having a rough time. Some battalions are surrounded or destroyed and we are very close to Mbuji Mayi. If Mbuji Mayi falls, the Kinshasa government may collapse," Wamba said.