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![]() Monday, August 31, 1998 Published at 14:59 GMT 15:59 UK ![]() ![]() World: Africa ![]() Angola admits involvement in Congo ![]() Angola is no longer reluctant to admit its role in the Congolese conflict ![]()
Joao de Matos appeared before the press in the strategically important Congolese port of Matadi which his troops gained control of at the weekend.
Mr de Matos said his troops controlled the whole of south-western Congo. Angola is understood to be concerned that if the Congolese rebels win power, they may give aid to the rebel Unita movement in Angola. Unita members arrested
The Angolan Deputy Foreign Minister, Jorge Chikoti, told the BBC that Angola had "true evidence" that Unita was supporting Congolese rebels against President Kabila. Mr Chikoti also said there had been "an unprovoked invasion" of Congo by Uganda and Rwanda.
Mr Chikoti said Angola's intervention followed President Kabila's appeal to the southern African grouping, SADICC, earlier in August. Angola's crucial role
Two other African countries - Zimbabwe and Namibia - have also sent troops into Congo to help the government of President Laurent Kabila defeat the one-month-old rebellion. Rwanda and Uganda have denied allegations that their forces have intervened on the side of the rebels. Kabila vows to counter-attack
But the leader of the rebels, Jean-Pierre Ondekane, said the fight to overthrow him would continue. The governor of the capital, Kinshasa, has thanked the local population for helping to flush out rebels who had appeared in the suburbs of the city. In a radio broadcast on Monday, he asked civilians to hand over alive any captured rebels or any rebel weaponry to the authorities. A series of atrocities have been committed in the past week in Kinshasa, as local people burned alive and beat to death suspected rebels. ![]() |
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