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African Union May Intervene in Congo; Analysts See Wider War Email | Print | A A A

By Franz Wild and Heba Aly

Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- African nations will intervene in the conflict in Congo unless warring parties agree to a cease- fire, a Tanzanian official said, as analysts warned of a growing risk the violence may erupt into a regional war. ``Africa must intervene and it will,'' Tanzanian Foreign Minister said in a speech today in Khartoum, the capital of . If hostilities aren't halted, ``it will prompt military action'' by the , he said. Membe, in Sudan to take part in an initiative aimed at ending the conflict in Darfur, said he was speaking on behalf of Tanzanian President , chairman of the AU. His comments come after Congo's allies in the 15-nation Southern African Development Community on Nov. 9 offered military assistance to Congo's government, which is trying to thwart advances by the rebel army led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda . Angola , a SADC member, will send troops to Congo to support the government army, the Associated Press reported today, citing Deputy Foreign Minister Georges Chicoty. Nkunda's spokesman has said , and may join the fighting if they feel their borders are threatened by foreign forces. ``We're seeing moves toward a regional war,'' said Rebecca Feeley, a researcher on Congo for The Enough Project , a Washington-based project of the Center for American Progress that seeks solutions to conflicts around the world. ``It's more possible than it's been since 2003.'' Africa's World War Some of the states that may be drawn into the conflict also fought in the central African nation's civil war that started in 1998 and became known as Africa's World War. Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi then backed various rebels groups, while Angola, , Namibia, Chad and Sudan supported the government of President Laurent Kabila and, after his assassination in 2001, his son, the current leader . The conflict, which ended in 2003, was the deadliest since the Second World War, killing at least 4 million people, mainly from disease and starvation. Congo now accuses neighboring Rwanda of supporting Nkunda's rebellion, which on Oct. 29 advanced to within 10 kilometers (6 miles) of , the capital of province. Rwanda denies the allegation. Nkunda says he's fighting to protect Congo's minority from ethnic militias that took refuge in eastern Congo after participating in the genocide in neighboring Rwanda in 1994. ``There are no Rwandese troops in the Congo,'' President told Bloomberg Television yesterday in an interview in Frankfurt. ``Rwanda is very much interested in peace in the Congo. We now have peace in our country and we are aware that peace in our country cannot last for long, unless neighbors are at peace.'' http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/new… 1/2 2/19/2009 Bloomberg Printer-Friendly Page unless neighbors are at peace.''

Rwandan Support

Rwandan forces supported a rebellion in Congo in 1996 that overthrew dictator and a second one two years later after Kabila turned his back on his former allies. Angolan forces, which supported Congo's government in the last war, may return to support the army, which has failed to defeat Nkunda, Feeley said yesterday in an interview in Goma. Rwanda shares Nkunda's animosity for the mainly Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR, which allegedly took part in the . Congo denies UN allegations it is cooperating with the FDLR, which Rwanda cites as a threat to its security. More than two months of fighting between the two parties forced at least 250,000 civilians to flee. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday said 100,000 people driven from their homes by the recent fighting are ``cut off'' from humanitarian aid, a situation he called ``serious and dire.'' Addition UN Troops

The UN Security Council said it is ready to send an additional 3,000 peacekeepers to Congo to help it fulfill its mandate of protecting the civilian population caught up in the fighting. Mission head Alan Doss says his 16,500 troops are overstretched in a country a quarter the size of the U.S. UN officials said last week that Angolan troops arrived in Congo on Nov. 3 to help Kabila's forces, Associated Press reported on Nov. 7. UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Edmond Mulet said there was no evidence of their arrival. Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda may again attack Congo if the SADC countries decide to intervene, Bertrand Bisimwa, a spokesman for Nkunda's CNDP, said in an interview yesterday. ``If the guys from SADC join the dance, those who were fighting against them will then also come back in,'' Bisimwa said. ``They will want to secure their borders.'' `Important Role' Rwanda has not done enough to ensure the CNDP doesn't use its soil for activities which support the movement, Jendayi Frazer , the U.S.'s top diplomat to Africa, said on Oct. 30. The emphasis on a meeting between Kabila and Kagame in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Nov. 7 implies Western leaders think Rwanda has an important role to play in Congo's conflict, Feeley said. ``I don't think we're being told the truth about Rwanda's involvement here,'' she said. Congo's government has refused to negotiate with Nkunda directly, a stance it should alter to prevent the conflict from escalating, said Onesphore Sematumba of the Goma-based research group, Pole Institute. ``We can't even sustain a war,'' Sematumba said in an interview today. ``It doesn't matter who started the war. Do we have the right to take the population hostage?'' To contact the reporters on this story: Franz Wild in Kinshasa via Johannesburg at [email protected] ; Heba Aly in Khartoum via Johannesburg at [email protected]. Last Updated: November 12, 2008 09:11 EST

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