;)
Army commander Maj. Gen. James Kazini blacklisted by
the UN
By Alfred Wasike & Agencies
Travel bans, frozen personal assets
and other sanctions are some of the penalties recommended by the United
Nations special panel on alleged plundering of the war-torn Democratic
Republic of Congo to the global body�s Security Council.
The report is
to be debated on Thursday.
In the 59-page report to the U.N. Security
Council last night, the Nairobi-based panel listed 54 individuals and 85
multinational companies. They include UPDF�s Army Commander Maj. Gen.
James Kazini, Lt-Gen (Salim) Saleh, chief of military intelligence Col
Noble Mayombo and Kampala businessman Sam Engola.
The panel�s shame
list, to be made public soon, also has Colonels Kahinda Otafiire and Peter
Kerim, Rwanda Patriotic Army�s Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. James Kabarebe,
the DRC Minister for the Presidency, Augustin Matumba Mwanke and
Zimbabwe�s Parliament Speaker, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The report said,
�Despite a withdrawal of foreign troops, the plunder of DRC gems and
minerals continues unabated by the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe aided
by criminal networks.�
The panel that issued two previous reports over
the past year on how natural resources were fuelling the DRC war, called
on the UN to impose financial restrictions on the companies and
individuals involved in the pillaging.
It said, �In the areas
controlled by Uganda and its allied rebel organisations, the UPDF continue
to provoke ethnic conflict for economic gain, particularly in Ituri.
�The elite network operating out of Uganda was decentralised and
loosely hierarchical, unlike Rwanda�s.�
It said in anticipation of the
UPDF withdrawal from the DRC, a paramilitary force was being trained under
the personal authority of Saleh and is expected to continue facilitating
the commercial activities of UPDF officers after their departure. The
panel cited Saleh and Kazini as the key figures behind this elite network
that includes Mayombo, Otafiire and Kerim.
Other businessmen named in
the report include Thamer Al-Shanfari, citizen of Oman and director of
ORYX group, Victor Bout, Ukrainian-born arms dealer, John Bredenkemp of
Tremalt Ltd, George Forrest, Belgian entrepreneur, Richard Muamba Nozi,
Congolese diamond trader, Bout associate Sanjivan Ruprah, Anatol Piskunov
and Valentina Piskunova, Uganda-based coltan traders, Alfred Rwigema and
Ronald Smierciak, managers of Eagle Wings, a subsidiary of a US coltan
importer.
The international firms recommended for financial
restrictions include three airlines owned by Bout: Bukavu Aviation
Transport and Business Air Services in DRC and Okapi Air in Uganda.
Rebel leaders like Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, John Tibasima, Mbusa
Nyamwisi, Roger Lumbala, Thomas Lubanga were also implicated.
Other
DRC entrepreneurs Jacob Manu Soba, Mannase Savo and other Savo family
members were also named.
It named diamond traders Ahmad Diamond Corp.,
Asa Diam, Sierra Gems, Triple A Diamonds all of Antwerp, and ORYX Natural
Resources; cobalt and copper mines: Entreprise General Malta Forrest and
Groupe Forrest, both of Belgium, and Tremalt; coltan miners: Eagle Wings
Resources, based in Rwanda and Conmet of Uganda. Other companies named are
Congo Holding Development Co. of DRC, Great Lakes General Trade of Kigali,
Minerals Business of Kinshasa, Rwanda Allied Partners and Rwanda Metals;
Saracen Uganda; Tandan Group of South Africa and Tristar of Rwanda. Tax
fraud specialists Trinity Investments and Victoria Group, in DRC and
Uganda, are also named.
The list includes four Belgian diamond firms
and the Belgian Groupe George Forrest mining operation, a partner of the
Cleveland, Ohio-based OM Group.
The report also names 85
multinationals in South Africa, Europe and the USA that it says have
violated ethical guidelines on conflict zones set down by the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development.
These include the world�s
largest gem and mining firms Anglo American PLC, Barclays Bank, Bayer
A.G., De Beers Diamond Company, and the Cabot Corp.
The report said
Rwanda has left soldiers behind disguised as Congolese. It runs a Congo
Desk of the RPA, which in 1999 contributed $320m or 80% of the military
budget. |
