UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
Great Lakes: IRIN Update 204, 7/2/97

Great Lakes: IRIN Update 204, 7/2/97

U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Department of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network

for the Great Lakes

Tel: +254 2 622147

Fax: +254 2 622129

e-mail: irin@dha.unon.org

IRIN Emergency Update No.204 on the Great Lakes (2 July 1997)

* Congolese President Pascal Lissouba yesterday offered one million dollars to the UN to help set up a peacekeeping force in Brazzaville, AFP reported. The UN Security Council has indicated that it would like to send an advance force rapidly to act as a buffer between Lissouba's forces and militia loyal to former president Denis Sassou Nguesso. Fresh shelling hit the capital yesterday and early-morning artillery fire was reported today. Meanwhile, AFP in Paris quoted a French foreign ministry spokesman as saying France and the United States had begun "joint steps" to convince the warring parties to come to the negotiating table. Congolese radio said yesterday that dozens of former Rwandan and Zairean soldiers who had been fighting with Nguesso's "Cobra" militia had been taken prisoner.

* Residents of a southwestern district of Bangui in the Central African Republic (CAR) fled their homes yesterday after a government soldier was killed by mutineers, AFP reported. Many of the residents had just returned home after fleeing fighting between African peacekeepers and mutineers last week. Meanwhile, mutineers are continuing to hand in heavy weapons at the French ambassador's residence in accordance with a truce which ends at 8 pm today.

* The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today it had still not been granted access to detainees in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) despite ongoing negotiations with the authorities. It also said thousands of internally displaced were still far away from their villages of origin. ICRC is carrying out an average of five family reunifications every week. Health, water and sanitation needs remain enormous throughout the country.

* Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos yesterday called for the urgent disarming of former UNITA rebels, AFP reported. Meanwhile, one of 14 disarmament camps set up by the UN has been abandoned following clashes between UNITA and government forces. UN officials said the site at Muchinda, in the diamond-rich Lunda Norte province, was empty.

* Leader of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), John Garang, has refused to attend next week's meeting of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), AFP reported today. The Nairobi summit, to be chaired by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi, is due to discuss ways of ending Sudan's long civil war. A Sudanese government spokesman said Garang's absence will not affect the peace process. * Rwanda and Burundi today celebrate their 35th independence anniversaries, marked by a national holiday, following similar celebrations yesterday in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In Rwanda, the day also marks the victory of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) over the defeated regime of former president Juvenal Habyarimana. The group representing Hutu exiles, the Rally for the Return of Refugees and Democracy in Rwanda (RDR) told the BBC Kinyarwanda service that it did not agree with the date of the celebrations as the RPF victory was not welcomed by all Rwandans. * The Ugandan army yesterday killed three fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in Kyabandara, Bundibugyo, and recovered two rifles, the 'New Vision' reported today.

Nairobi, 2 July 1997, 15:15 gmt [ENDS]

[Via the UN DHA Integrated Regional Information Network. The material contained in this communication may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN DHA IRIN Tel: +254 2 622123 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: irin@dha.unon.org for more information. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts from this report should include attribution to the original sources mentioned, not simply "DHA".]

Date: Wed, 2 Jul 1997 17:29:56 -0300 (GMT+3) From: UN DHA IRIN - Great Lakes <irin@dha.unon.org> Subject: Great Lakes: IRIN Update 204 for 2 July 1997 97.7.2 Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.95.970702172800.6865k-100000@amahoro.dha.unon.org>

Editor: Dr. Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D

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