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Source App: ['SA Has The Muscle To Stop The War In Congo' - Netscape]
'SA Has The Muscle To Stop The War In Congo'
March 18, 1999
By Stephen Laufer
Johannesburg - SA could have ended the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo
if it had "put its foot down" with Rwanda and Uganda, Zimbabwe's Defence
Minister, Moven Mahachi, said in Pretoria yesterday. SA had the "muscle and
political means to tell them to stop invading".
But Rwanda and Uganda had not felt any pressure to withdraw because "SA does not seem very committed". SA was trying instead to equate Zimbabwe's intervention at the behest of President Laurent Kabila "with the actions of the aggressors".
Mahachi's forthright statement came in an otherwise determinedly friendly news briefing during a stopover on his way to a meeting of the interstate defence and security committee of the Southern African Development Community in Swaziland. He was joined by National Security Minister Sydney Sekeremayi in what appeared a deliberate attempt to woo the SA media, which the Zimbabwean government regards as critical of it and its role in the Congo.
Sekeremayi said SA also had an important diplomatic, political, and military role to play in efforts to stop the fighting in Angola "if it wants to". After the declaration by the SADC of Jonas Savimbi as a war criminal, "SA should give support to the Angolan government", he said.
SA has been working for negotiated settlements of both crises. Mahachi said SA and Zimbabwe had the best of relations.
If there were differences of opinion over the Congo, they did not extend to a hostile relationship. He sometimes wondered whether the media were as keen on good relations between the two states as was the government in Harare.
Mahachi confirmed that rebel forces were on the offensive in the Congo, but said he did not know the numbers. Fighting was not as intense as it had been during the early phases of the rebellion when Zimbabwean troops had been involved in thwarting an attempt by 7000 rebel troops to take Kinshasa.
With a brigade of about 5000 soldiers in the Congo, Zimbabwe had so far lost "about 40 men". Mahachi denied persistent reports that casualties had been much higher and bodies were not being sent home for burial for fear of a domestic backlash.
Zimbabwe was encouraging Kabila to talk to the opposition in line with an SADC call for an inclusive political settlement in the Congo. "He has announced elections and is prepared to talk to everyone - including the rebels," he said.
Mahachi said the denial of a passport to internal opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi to attend a meeting of opposition groups in SA last week was "a matter of detail". "We are trying to encourage Kabila to open up so people of the Congo can come to an agreement".
Zimbabwe was ready for a cease-fire if others were too. "We do not want to stay a day unnecessarily." The Congo was covering the costs of the Zimbabwean expeditionary force "in their own small way" by paying for fuel, transport and logistics.
Mahachi said Zimbabwe had to "foot the bill for the rest with our own budget".
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