ZAIRE: WARRING FACTIONS TO ATTEND PEACE TALKS IN SOUTH AFRICA скачать в хорошем качестве

ZAIRE: WARRING FACTIONS TO ATTEND PEACE TALKS IN SOUTH AFRICA

(21 Feb 1997) English/Nat Zaire has agreed to attend a regional summit on its escalating civil war and envoys for opposing forces headed to South Africa to explore peace talks. But, rebel leader Laurent Kabila said in a statement Thursday, that he doesn't expect much from the talks being held in Cape Town. But Kabila did warn of severe reprisals in the event of continued airstrikes on civilian targets in Eastern Zaire. In a surprise statement Thursday, rebel leader Laurent Kabila, claimed to know the source of the government airstrikes against Bukavu and other towns in Eastern Zaire. SOUNDBITE: (English) "We have identified where those planes came from." (Q.) Was it Kingdo as you have suspected? "It was not Kingdo, it came from Tingi-Tingi." SUPER CAPTION: Laurent Kabila, Rebel leader Kabila warned of an imminent attack on Tingi-Tingi, where 150-thousand Rwandan refugees are sheltering among former Rwandan soldiers and militiamen armed by the Zairian government. The chairman of the rebel alliance said there would be severe reprisals in the event of continued airstrikes. SOUNDBITE: (English) "We are not afraid about that civilian population - they will do it, but we'll ask the international community not to ask us to refrain when we give a response to those kind of provocation from their end." SUPER CAPTION: Laurent Kabila, Rebel leader Before the bombing, Kabila agreed to extend an ultimatum given to U-N-H-C-R, on his attack of the Hutu militia control refugee camp of Tingi-Tingi. Envoys for Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko and rebel leader Laurent Kabila, were sent to Cape Town to hold peace talks between Zaire's warring factions There was some question of whether Kabila himself would fly via Kigali, Rwanda to negotiate in South Africa. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Of course I sent a delegation, I was asked by the organisers, one of the organiser is President Mandela, the President of South Africa - I was asked to go there, but absolutely I refused to negotiate with who? Whiles Mobutu is not there, I can't negotiate with an envoy of Mobutu." SUPER CAPTION: Laurent Kabila, Rebel leader President Mobutu Sese Seko's fighter pilots dropped three bombs Monday on the lakeside town of Bukavu, headquarters for rebel leader Laurent Kabila. The strike against civilian targets marked an abrupt escalation in the government's war with the rebels who control eastern Zaire. The explosion severely wounded nine-year-old Simba Wilondja, who just happened to be walking by the Kabubu market when shrapnel severed a portion of his brain. Simba remains in coma - local doctors have no means to treat such complex trauma. Some of the most severely wounded in the bombing raid were evacuated Thursday from the hospital for treatment in South Africa. The Zaire government has said it would resume its bombing raids on rebel-held towns in eastern Zaire, though there were no reports of airstrikes by the end of the day. 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...