U.N. Team to Leave Congo, Official Says
Citing a lack of cooperation from Congo’s government, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided to withdraw a U.N. team sent to the African country to investigate massacres, a senior U.N. official said Wednesday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the announcement will probably be made today or Friday, even though Annan was under pressure from the United States to keep the team in Congo.
Annan sent the team to the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, in August to investigate reports that forces loyal to President Laurent Kabila massacred thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees during their seven-month rebellion, which toppled dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in May 1997.
Despite assurances from Kabila’s government that it would cooperate, the investigation has been delayed by numerous disagreements over the scope of the probe.
Kabila has denied that his forces targeted refugees, but has acknowledged that some Rwandan Hutus, armed by Mobutu to fight the rebels, may have been killed in battle--along with the women and children among whom they hid.
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