UN Congo report's cut chapter fingers Uganda,Rwanda
By Dino Mahtani
KINSHASA, Dec 15 (Reuters) - A chapter cut from a recent U.N. panel report on the Democratic Republic of Congo details the continued involvement of Rwanda and Uganda in plundering Congo's resources and arming militia groups.
The chapter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, had been suppressed for fear the revelations could undermine Congo's fragile peace deal which was sealed in July, ending a five year war that claimed over three million lives.
Uganda and Rwanda invaded Congo in 1998 backing the country's two main rebel groups and are accused by a U.N. panel of experts of continuing to back proxies in Congo's mineral rich east, despite officially withdrawing their own troops.
The report says Rwanda continues to train and arm the largest former rebel group, RCD-Goma, and cooperates with the governor of North Kivu province who runs his own militia.
"The panel has information and documents indicating that ... and despite the Rwandan government's emphatic denials, the Rwandan Defence Forces still play an important but highly discreet role," states the chapter, which diplomats at the United Nations said in October would be kept under wraps.
The Congo Holding Development Company (CHDC) with bases in eastern Congo and Rwanda and run by RCD-Goma according to documents obtained by the panel, serves as the primary vehicle for illegally shipping out minerals, the report said.
CHDC was set up by Congo's new minister of post and telecommunications, the RCD-Goma official Gertrude Kitembo, whose husband is an advisor at the Rwandan presidency, it said.
In Congo's northeastern province of Ituri the panel accuses Rwanda of backing a militia from the Hema ethnic group which has clashed with a rival group for control of mineral resources.
"The Rwanda material shows the significance of Rwanda's intelligence presence in DRC, how it maintains influence over RCD-Goma and other groupings in DRC since they withdrew troops in October 2002," said an analyst based in Africa.
According to the unused chapter, Uganda's involvement in Congo remains overwhelmingly commercial and its primary objective is control of Ituri province, rich in coltan, diamonds, gold, timber and potential oil reserves.
Uganda's tactic has been to oppose the Rwandan backed militia by backing rival groups, the report says.
"The Uganda information is important because it points to a more orchestrated campaign of economic exploitation in eastern Congo directed from the president's office," said the analyst.
Some of the evidence used by the panel has been called into question. Part of it was collected anecdotally, and presented orally to the U.N. Security Council.
But many Congolese feel the report should still have been published in its entirety, despite its controversial nature.
12/15/03 09:49 ET
