Tensions rose in Central Africa as foreign troops arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday to help President Laurent Kabila put down a rebellion but were warned to back off by Rwanda and Uganda.
The sabre-rattling coincided with a call by President Nelson Mandela of South Africa for two emergency regional summit meetings in Pretoria at the weekend.
Troops believed to be from Zimbabwe arrived in Kinshasa on Thursday, and Angolan forces including tanks were seen moving into the country from the Angolan enclave of Cabinda.
The plan appeared to be to encircle rebel troops moving northeast up the narrow corridor from Matadi on the Congo River towards Kinshasa.
Sources in Angola's northern Cabinda enclave said Angolan special forces headed yesterday for Congo to help Mr Kabila crush a Tutsi-led rebellion.
The same sources, reached by telephone from Luanda, said troops backed by armoured vehicles had already left for the Congo after having landed by plane in Cabinda.
The sources said it was likely the Angolan troops would cross Congo (Brazzaville) to the former Zaire, which is across the Congo river, and try to stop the rebel advance at Kimwenza and Kasangulu, to the south-west of Kinshasa.
A large part of Cabinda's border with Congo (Brazzaville) is under the control of separatist movements of the Cabinda Enclave Liberation Front.
Zimbabwe may have moved up to 600 troops and four fighter jets to Kinshasa to bolster the embattled Mr Kabila against Tutsi-led rebels threatening to topple him, diplomatic sources said yesterday in Harare.
Rwanda and Uganda, which helped Mr Kabila sweep Zaire's dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, out of power 15 months ago but have since lost patience with him, warned the foreign forces supporting him to keep out of the fight or face the consequences.
It was the first time Uganda had broken its silence over the rebellion, which began on August 2nd.
"Foreign forces cannot quell an internal rebellion," a Ugandan army spokesman, Capt Shaban Bantariza, warned in Kampala. "The rebels will stretch them out in the forests of Congo and they will go home without shoes."
The Rwandan government, accused by Mr Kabila of directly backing the rebels, said in Kampala it "reserved the right to get involved" on behalf of the Congolese people.
The Congo rebels have offered Mr Kabila a ceasefire, but the arrival of the foreign reinforcements gave new life to his embattled government. Mr Kabila himself has not been seen since Sunday.
"The war is becoming decisive on the western front," state radio said. "It is not impossible that they [the rebels] will be totally dislodged in the hours that come."
The rebellion by ethnic Tutsis began in the east just three weeks ago, but raced across Africa's third largest country to the back door of Kinshasa.
There was still no clear indication of who controlled the strategic military stronghold of Mbanza Ngungu 120km (75 miles) southwest of Kinshasa, with the rebels claiming to have overrun it and the government insisting it still held it.
Mr Kabila accuses his former allies, Uganda and Rwanda, of stirring up the latest rebellion for their own ends. Both have denied involvement.
State radio quoted ministers as saying that any talks should be directly with Rwanda and Uganda rather than with the rebel Congolese Democratic Coalition led by the veteran dissident, Mr Wamba dia Wamba.
Mr Mandela called Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda and Congo to a summit in Pretoria today to be followed tomorrow by a full summit of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The SADC is in disarray with Zimbabwe and Angola promising military support for Mr Kabila but Mr Mandela - who helped broker him into power - advocating a negotiated settlement.
Diplomats fear for the stability of the whole of central Africa.
France, a long-time supporter of the French-speaking Mobutu and known to be antagonistic to the English-speaking Mr Kabila, has reissued calls for a summit on the region.