ITALY/CONGO: INVESTIGATION INTO MASSACRE REPORTS IN DR CONGO (2) скачать в хорошем качестве

ITALY/CONGO: INVESTIGATION INTO MASSACRE REPORTS IN DR CONGO (2)

(6 Jan 1999) English/Nat A top Congolese rebel leader has ordered an investigation into reports his fighters massacred 5-hundred civilians in southeastern Congo, apparently in retaliation for an attack on their forces. The massacre was reported by the Roman Catholic Misna news service which said it had first-person reports that rebels methodically hunted down residents of Makobola and hacked or shot them to death. The news agency alleged a commander in the Rwandan army led the ethnic Tutsi rebel unit that carried out the massacre. Rwanda, along with Uganda, is backing the rebel bid to overthrow Congolese President Laurent Kabila. The head of the Catholic news agency in Rome, the Reverent Giulio Albanese, talked about circumstances surrounding the attack. SOUNDBITE: (English) "The massacre took place in a place not very far from Uvira, South of Uvira - Makobola, 16-17 kilometers from Uvira. It started on the 30th of December, 1998 and it lasted until the 1st of January 1999. In other words three days. Many people were killed, hundreds, according to our latest reports at least 500 people, innocent people were killed, the majority of them children, elders, women." SUPER CAPTION: Father Giulio Albanese, Director Missionary Service News Agency The Uvira region is populated by a large number of ethnic Tutsis. Ethnic tensions have run high over land disputes and unequal representation in local government. Relations between the rebels, many of whom are Tutsi, and other ethnic groups also have been strained since a massacre in August, when rebels admitted to killing several hundred civilians in Kasika, also south of Uvira, in a revenge attack. Missionaries in Kasika say they have uncovered 633 bodies from the massacre at the Catholic mission and the nearby village. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Here, this is a list of some people who have been killed in this massacre. What is interesting to notice is that many of these people belong to various cultural and religious areas" SUPER CAPTION: Father Giulio Albanese, Director Missionary Service News Agency The rebel Congolese Democratic Coalition, which now controls the eastern half of the Central African country, is made up of ethnic Tutsis, disaffected government soldiers and opposition politicians. The insurgents have accused President Laurent Kabila of misrule, corruption and inciting ethnic hatred against the Congolese Tutsi minority. SOUNDBITE: (English) "We got this information from our sources and our sources are people who are running the risk of losing their lives because they live in a state of danger." SUPER CAPTION: Father Giulio Albanese, Director Missionary Service News Agency Albanese said the attack was in apparent retaliation for the killing of rebel soldiers by a force known as the Mai-Mai, who view the Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed insurgents as foreign invaders. The Mai-Mai, a loose-knit force drawn from groups opposed to perceived Tutsi domination, have carried out ambushes on rebel convoys and attacks on government forces. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...