Ikela settlement averts all-out battle

Senior-level delegations from Zimbabwe, Rwanda and the Rwandan-backed rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) on Tuesday agreed a settlement to put an end to serious fighting in the Bokungu-Ikela area of northwest Equateur province, news organisations reported. The fighting risked turning into an all-out war that could threaten the lives of hundreds of Zimbabwean troops besieged at Ikela airport. An agreement was reached in the Rwandan capital Kigali - after prior negotiations by a Rwandan delegation in Harare - under which the Zimbabwean troops, trapped behind rebel lines at Ikela airport, would be allowed to bring in food and supplies. In return, government troops were to withdraw from the town of Bokungu, which they seized from the RCD last Thursday after fierce fighting, diplomatic sources said. Meanwhile, the government-held town of Mbandaka is reported to be almost surrounded by Jean-Pierre Bemba's rebel Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) backed by the Ugandan army, diplomatic sources told IRIN on Wednesday. The government last week admitted the loss of Basankusu, northeast of Mbandaka, to Bemba's rebels - who have since made it their military headquarters. A contingent of ex-Forces armees zairoises (FAZ) and Angolan UNITA rebels have reportedly arrived in Gbadolite to support the MLC, the sources added.