SOUTH AFRICA: RWANDAN MILITARY STRONGMAN MAJOR-GENERAL PAUL KAGAME SEALS CRUCIAL TALKS WITH SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA

Record ID: 652734

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: RWANDAN MILITARY STRONGMAN MAJOR-GENERAL PAUL KAGAME SEALS CRUCIAL TALKS WITH SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA
  • Date: 7th November 1998
  • Summary: PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (NOVEMBER 6,1998) (RTV) SLV/SV EXTERIOR MAHLAMBANDLOPFU, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA'S PRETORIA RESIDENCE/SOUTH AFRICAN AND RWANDAN FLAGS FLYING (2 SHOTS) SLV/SV MANDELA AND RWANDAN VICE-PRESIDENT MAJOR-GENERAL PAUL KAGAME WALKING INTO MEDIA BRIEFIN/CAMERAMEN (2 SHOTS) MCU KAGAME SAYING: "INITIALLY OUR COUNTRY HAD NOT, FOR GOOD REASONS, COME OUT SPECIFICALLY TO TALK ITS PRESENCE, THE PRESENCE OF OUR TROOPS IN CONGO AND WE HAVE INFORMED THE PRESIDENT THAT WE ARE THERE SPECIFICALLY FOR OUR NATIONAL SECURITY" (ENGLISH) MCU PHOTOGRAPHER MCU KAGAME SAYING: "AND OF COURSE, DIFFERENT COUNTRIES HAVE HAD THEIR TROOPS INVOLVED IN THE CONGO. I THINK WE SHALL SUPPORT AND WE FULLY SUPPORT THE WITHDRAWAL OF ALL THESE FORCES, INCLUDING OUR OWN FORCES. FOR US I CAN SPEAK FOR MY OWN COUNTRY. FOR US IT IS AN ISSUE OF MAKING SURE WHATEVER SOLUTION IS FOUND TO THE SOLUTION OF THE CONGO, THAT MUST TAKE CARE OF OUR SECURITY CONCERNS. AND IF THAT IS THE CASE FOR USE WE HAVE NO REASON TO BE IN THE CONGO."(ENGLISH) MCU PHOTOGRAPHER MCU MANDELA SAYING: "THAT THE PEOPLE OF THE CONGO THEMSELVES, NO EXTERNAL FORCES, SHOULD SIT DOWN TO HAMMER A SOLUTION. AND I THINK THE FACT THAT RWANDA HAS NOW ADMITTED THAT THEIR ARMY, THEIR TROOPS ARE INSIDE THE CONGO IS GOING TO HELP AND ENSURING THAT WE NOW FOCUS ATTENTION ON THE COMMUNIQUE THAT WE PASSED IN AUGUST IN PRETORIA HERE." (ENGLISH) SLV MEDIA, MANDELA AND KAGAME SHAKING HANDS AND LEAVING ROOM (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 22nd November 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEFA0TZ6ORGFKQJ67K66Z1JT8P
  • Story Text: Rwandan military strongman Major-General Paul Kagame has sealed crucial talks with South African President Nelson Mandela with an acknowledgement his troops were helping rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
    .
    After talks with Mandela on Friday (November 6), Rwandan Vice-President Paul Kagame said he had told the South African president that Rwanda had given military support to rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to assure its own security.
    "Initially our country hadn't, for good reasons, come out specifically to talk about the presence of our troops in the Congo.We have informed President Mandela that we are there specifically for our national security," Kagame said.
    Kagame accuses DRC President Laurent Kabila of arming and training exiled Rwandan Hutu militia and former soldiers with the aim of destabilising Rwanda.
    Rwandan Hutus are blamed for the 1994 genocide of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
    Thirty-nine-year-old Kagame, who planned and oversaw the overthrow in 1996 of veteran dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of former Zaire (now known as DRC), said his forces would not withdraw until Rwanda's security concerns were addressed.
    Mandela said Kagame's admission paved the way for a ceasefire in the DRC, Africa's third largest country.
    He said a meeting of the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) would be held soon to formally hammer out a ceasefire deal and a framework for the withdrawal of foreign forces from the DRC.
    The latest war in Democratic Republic of Congo erupted on August 2 after army units in the eastern Kivu region mutinied accusing President Kabila of corruption, nepotism, incompetence and failure to chart out a political programme for the country.
    Unitl Kagame's statement on Friday, Rwanda had consistently denied any involvement in the rebellion, while Uganda says any troops it has in DRC are there merely to flush out Ugandan rebels carrying out cross-border raids.
    The rebels have repeatedly called for direct talks with Kabila - whose forces have been reinforced by soldiers from Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Chad - but Kabila has refused, insisting instead that Rwanda and Uganda withdraw their troops.
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