U.S. Accuses 2 Nations of Interfering in Congo

The U.S. ambassador to Congo has accused Rwanda and Uganda of aggression against the vast West African nation.

Ambassador William Lacey Swing said in a recent broadcast on Congo’s state television station that Rwanda and Uganda are guilty of “external military interference to which the country and the courageous Congolese people are being subjected.”

President Laurent Kabila accuses Rwanda and Uganda of masterminding Congo’s two-month rebel war, which he says is a front for an invasion.

In his broadcast, recorded Thursday after a meeting with Justice Minister Mwenze Kongolo, Swing said he is optimistic that Congo’s government is moving toward a “democratic transition.”

“I am here to support your government,” the ambassador said.

The state broadcaster, which serves as a mouthpiece for Kabila’s government, called Swing’s statements a sign that “misunderstandings” between Washington and Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, are being resolved.

The U.S. has accused Kabila’s government of human rights abuses since it came to power in a rebellion that toppled the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in May 1997.

Washington also has warned other neighboring countries not to intervene in Congo’s latest war, which broke out in early August.

Kabila’s government has interpreted Washington’s stance as support for the rebel cause, and Congo’s state radio embarked on a campaign of denouncing Western countries, including the U.S., for their failure to come to the government’s aid.

Kabila’s government has received military assistance from Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Chad.