Congo Leader Threatens War Against Rwanda

Congolese President Laurent Kabila on Thursday threatened to wage war against neighboring Rwanda, which he accused of masterminding a widening rebellion in eastern Congo, and he warned his citizens to prepare for a “long, drawn-out” struggle to defend their nation.

“We must prepare ourselves to resist the aggression and finish the war in the aggressors’ home,” Kabila said at a news conference here in the Congolese capital.

His threat raised concern among outside observers that Central Africa’s Great Lakes region is headed for another orgy of killing. It came on the eve of an emergency summit of leaders from Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Tanzania to discuss the escalating conflict in Congo, formerly called Zaire. Kabila confirmed that he would attend the meeting, to be held today in Zimbabwe’s northwestern resort town of Victoria Falls.

The uprising has pitted native Congolese against the country’s Banyamulenge, ethnic Tutsis who share a heritage with Rwandans of the same ethnic group.

Kabila said both Rwanda and its close ally Uganda, countries that played a key role in helping Kabila oust longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in May 1997, have fomented the current revolt, a charge they firmly deny.

Rwanda’s intention, Kabila said, is to colonize Congo, subjugate its people and move one step closer to creating “a Tutsi empire.”

The territory seized by renegade soldiers includes the key eastern cities of Bukavu and Goma, near Rwanda’s border. Uvira, south of Bukavu, also apparently has fallen to the rebels, and fighting reportedly continues in Kisangani, farther into the interior.

Kabila said he regrets having trusted Rwanda, calling it “the champion of liars, of crimes.”

“These people have been our friends,” he said. “But they wanted to be the masters of our country. They wanted to be above the law.”

The comments fueled a backlash against Congolese Tutsis. There were reports Wednesday night that Tutsi businesses were torched and pedestrians assaulted in the streets.

“There is a vicious mopping-up operation here,” a Kinshasa-based Western official said. “They’re going after anyone on the street who may look like they come from eastern Congo. They are even chasing people into buildings.”

A government-sanctioned rally in Kinshasa on Thursday drew about 5,000 people, who waved banners saying, “Long Live Kabila.” Others chanted and sang that they were ready to die for their country. Some marchers carried stuffed effigies of former Foreign Minister Bizima Karaha and Deogratias Bugera, once a close Kabila confidant, both of whom have defected to the rebels.

“When Kabila came to power, he gave the impression that he fought together with the Rwandans,” said elevator technician Mayasi Kalunga, 37, as he watched the procession. “We should thank them, pay them for the job they did and they should go back. But they don’t want that. They want to have power and colonize the country.”

Said Steve Mukuna, 32, a student at Kinshasa’s College of Applied Technology: “Tutsis don’t originate from Congo. They don’t have Congolese mentality. . . . That’s why we can’t give them any piece of land.”

Anti-Tutsi sentiment is widespread in the Great Lakes region. Age-old animosities led to the 1994 slaughter by Hutus of more than 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Rwanda has accused Congo of failing to control Hutu rebels, who have used bases in the east to launch attacks inside Rwanda. Some fear Kabila might seek Hutu military assistance, but he insisted that Congo will defend itself with the support of the masses.

Poised to confront his foes at today’s Zimbabwe conference, Kabila vowed to protect Congo’s integrity and sovereignty.

“We are not going to negotiate anything,” he said. “We are for total freedom. If they don’t give us [back our land], we are going to get it by force.”