...Says, "Hello,my brothers."Tutsi Rebels Assault Zairean City of Uvira
...Says, "Hello,my brothers."Friday, October 25, 1996, BUKAVU, Zaire (Reuter) - Shelling rocked theeastern Zairean city of Uvira as Tutsi rebels battled Zairean troops Fridayand a European envoy warned a new genocide in Central Africa could be near.
Rwandan Hutus fled to Zaire from their homeland in 1994 in fear of reprisalsfor the Hutu genocide of up to an estimated 1 million Tutsis and Hutu moderates.
Western aid workers in Geneva said the Banyamulenge rebels had seized Uviraairport and cut off all satellite and radio communications and many peoplewere fleeing the lakeside city.
Residents of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, 18 miles to the east, saidthey heard blasts from Uvira overnight and Friday from fighting betweenZairean troops and Tutsi rebels.
A local U.N. radio operator in Uvira was quoted as saying Thursday nighthe had to stop transmitting as rebels were about to take the area wherehe was. He has not been heard of since.
Rebels said they would seize all Uvira Friday night. A rebel leader, whosaid he was speaking from Uvira by satellite telephone, told the BBC thatthey had taken Uvira and were cleaning up pockets of resistance.
A top Burundian army officer, Security Coordinator Lt. Col. Jean Bosco Daradangwe,told Reuters battles between the army and rebels around Uvira raged allday.
Another Burundian army officer said Uvira had not yet fallen but rebelshad seized a frontier post at Vugizo and the Belgian-built Kiliba sugarplantation 10 miles from Uvira.
He said the rebels controlled most territory between Uvira and the capitalof South Kivu province, Bukavu, 60 miles to the north. The Zairean armyin Bukavu said the nearest rebels were 20 miles from the lakeside city.
A CARE aid agency vehicle was stolen in Bukavu, apparently by Zairean soldierstrying to flee with their families.
Aid officials fear the Tutsi rebellion in eastern Zaire which burst intoheavy fighting a week ago could spread further and Tutsi-dominated armiesin Burundi and Rwanda could join the conflict. Both countries deny theyare involved.
Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko is in Switzerland, receiving chemotherapyafter an operation for cancer in August, fueling fears the revolt mightherald the break up of Zaire.
The Banyamulenge, who migrated to what is now Zaire some 200 years ago,say they are fighting for control of all Kivu, the return of their propertyand Zairean citizenship, which had been denied to them in 1981.
In Brussels, European Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Emma Bonino appealedto the warring parties to stop fighting and avoid further genocide in CentralAfrica's Great Lakes region.
"A new genocide is possibly in the offing," said the aid chief,adding efforts to feed the 1.1 million refugees in eastern Zaire faced severeproblems as fighting had blocked aid.
"I am deeply saddened that once again you are on the roads fleeingfor your lives," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogatain a message broadcast by radio to the nearly 300,000 refugees to flee violencein the last week.
"This terrible situation may not stop immediately, and I would likeyou to know that we will do everything possible, in cooperation with theauthorities to help you where we can," she added.
Copyright 1996 Reuters Limited.
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