UN plan rejection prompts fear of widening conflict in Zaire

THE Zairean and Rwandan governments have dismissed a UN sponsored peace plan for their region, prompting fresh fears of an escalation of the conflict in eastern Zaire.

However, a glimmer of hope has emerged with the announcement yesterday by President Nelson Mandela of South Africa that Zairean government representatives would meet the rebel leader Mr Laurent Kabila, in Johannesburg today. If this meeting takes place, it will be the first between the government and Mr Kabila's (mainly Tutsi) rebels since fighting erupted last October.

Foreign ministers from Cameroon, Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania also met yesterday in the Zairean capital, Kinshasa to seek ways of ending the civil war in that country.

The five point peace plan, approved unanimously by the UN Security Council on Tuesday, produced a rare show of unity on Central African policy between the USA and France. But Zaire said to condemn alleged aggression by Rwanda and Uganda or to provide for a withdrawal of their troops, while Rwanda said the resolution calling for a truce in the war in Zaire was "absurd" because it failed to take into account rebel views.

Zairean officials warned the plan would have no effect on military operations. A military source said that further air raids against rebel targets were planned following an attack on Monday against Bukavu, in which 11 civilians were killed and almost 40 others were wounded, according to aid workers.

The plan proposed by the UN envoy, Mr Muhammad Sahnoun, provided for "an immediate cessation of hostilities", the "withdrawal of all foreign forces, including mercenaries," and the "rapid and peaceful settlement of the crisis through dialogue" and future elections.

Meanwhile, a new report from Amnesty International accuses Zairean government troops of widespread human rights abuses during the conflict with rebels. Soldiers retreating from the eastern Kivu province have pillaged, raped and killed "with virtual impunity" in recent months, according to the report.

Amnesty says fears of further human rights violations are growing among local villagers following the launch of the government's counter offensive to recapture territory lost to the rebels. The organisation has appealed to the international community to put pressure on the Zairean government to stop the violations by its security forces.

It claims western governments are "unwilling or unable" to take action on human rights in Zaire since the mass exodus of refugees to Rwanda late last year.

"After the mass repatriation of refugees to Rwanda in late 1996, the diplomats and politicians have allowed plans for a humanitarian intervention force to founder. The journalists and cameramen have moved on to the next hot spot, yet for the people living in Zaire the situation has gone from bad to worse."

Women, members of religious groups and others, especially people of Rwandan and Burundian origin, have been among those specifically targeted by Zairean troops, according to the report. Last December, soldiers raped schoolgirls at the Likovi secondary school in Bunia, 200 miles north of Goma. The soldiers are alleged to have killed seven of their victims.

Church workers have also come under sustained attack, with local officials in Kisangani accusing the church of collaborating with the AFDL. Amnesty says church buildings have been repeatedly, searched or looted.

Since the start of the conflict, Zaireans of Tutsi ethnic origin have been detained, as have refugees, journalists and human rights activists who have tried to investigate abuses against Tutsis.

The situation is complicated by the fact that large numbers of Zaireans have been displaced by the fighting in their region. Many of these have been reduced to scavenging in the forests for food.

"In addition, about 300 000 refugees from Rwanda and Burundi remain in the country, largely forgotten by the international community and prey to hunger and disease," the report states.