-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">
</A> -Cui Bono?-
ISSUE 1696 Sunday 16 January 2000
Alarm over North Korea's secret deal for Congo uranium
By Christina Lamb
'We were lucky if we got beaten only two or three times a day'
NORTH Korea is believed to be obtaining uranium for its secret
nuclear weapons programme in return for providing military
training to the Congo. Preparing for war: President Kabila is
said to be building up his military capability For several months
North Korea has been supplying troops and training Congolese
soldiers engaged in one of Africa's bloodiest civil wars. US and
South African intelligence sources fear that Laurent Kabila, the
cash-strapped President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, may
have given North Korea access to the country's largest uranium
mine as payment.
The director of a British mining company in the Congo told The
Telegraph that his workers had seen North Korean soldiers in
Shinkolobwe, a mining town 100 miles north of the capital, which
provided uranium for the Hiroshima bomb.
Richard Cornwall, from the South African Institute for Security
Studies, said: "We know that there have been North Koreans in
that area and they are definitely training government forces, but
whether they are soldiers or miners we do not know and we can
only speculate what they are getting in exchange."
The reports have strengthened suspicions that Pyongyang has been
seeking new sources of uranium for its nuclear programme, which
was supposed to have been shelved in 1994 after the signing of a
non-proliferation agreement with the United States.
A Congressional report released in November warned that North
Korea had improved its nuclear capabilities in the past five
years and now had the missile capability to strike the United
States. "It is clear that North Korea can deliver a weapon of
mass destruction not just to Seoul, but also to Seattle," it
said.
The report cited "significant evidence that undeclared nuclear
weapons development activity continues, including efforts to
acquire uranium and uranium-enrichment technologies".
According to US intelligence officials, one of these sources may
be the mineral-rich Congo. Shinkolobwe uranium is very
high-grade. However mining experts point out that the Shinkolobwe
mine has not been in use for some years and is thought to have
suffered severe flooding, which would take some time to remove.
That one of the world's leading pariah states should have entered
into a deal with one of the most unstable countries in Africa is
ringing alarm bells not only in Washington. The last time North
Korean soldiers were in Africa was to train Zimbabwe's notorious
Fifth Brigade, which massacred thousands in Matabeleland in the
1980s.
Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, who has committed some
8,000 troops to propping up the Congolese government, apparently
put Kabila in touch with the North Koreans. Pyongyang's
involvement has heightened fears that the conflict in the Congo
may spill over into neighbouring countries. Kabila has been
locked in civil war since August 1998, a year after overthrowing
the late dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko.
He is supported by Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, while the rebels
are backed by Uganda and Rwanda. A ceasefire signed in July
continues to be violated by both sides. A curfew was recently
reintroduced in Kinshasa, though seasonal rains mean heavy
fighting is unlikely to get under way again until March.
Kinshasa's military build-up, including the purchase of Scud
missiles from Iran, is increasing suspicions that Kabila is
planning an attack on Rwanda. At a recent ceremony to inaugurate
the training of an army of 20,000 volunteers, he said: "You must
have weapons because you will quickly wipe away the enemies of
the people."
Mr Cornwall warned: "The North Korean presence is a great worry
given their history in the region and also because of fears that
they might infiltrate the Great Lakes region. Burundi is on a
knife-edge and anything could spark another genocide such as that
of 1994, which could then easily spread to Rwanda and southern
Uganda."
15 December 1999: Oxfam halts all aid work in North Korea
7 December 1999: Donors drop out as North Korea resists change
23 November 1999: Scud missiles 'sold by Iran' to aid Congo in civil war
8 October 1999: 30,000 have fled North for China, says Seoul
18 September 1999: Americans lift North Korean trade ban
31 August 1999: Congo rebels to sign truce
17 August 1999: Congolese caught in crossfire as old allies trade blows
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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