15,312 foreign forces withdrawn so far, says UN

So far, 15,312 foreign troops have withdrawn from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Maj-Gen Mountaga Diallo, force commander of the UN Mission in the DRC, said on Wednesday.

He told reporters at a news conference in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, that the departed troops numbered 10,233 Rwandans, 2,287 Ugandans, 2,092 Zimbabweans and 700 Burundians.

The UN mission, known as MONUC, reported that there had been about 23,400 Rwandan troops in DRC. Zimbabwe had the second-largest contingent of forces in the DRC, with some 12,000, followed by Angola with about 8,000.

Meanwhile, as MONUC was announcing that the withdrawal of foreign troops from the DRC was nearing its conclusion, the Association Africaine de Defense des Droits de l'Homme (ASADHO), a national human rights NGO, reported the redeployment of Rwandan troops in South Kivu Province of eastern DRC. In a communiqué issued on Wednesday, ASADHO cited witnesses who reported that between 16 and 20 September, some 250 well-armed Rwandan soldiers re-entered the DRC via the city of Bukavu, and headed inland toward Walungu and Kalehe in South Kivu.

"We saw new units cross the border at Rizizi 2 [a river] to enter South Kivu via Bukavu," ASADHO quoted one witness as saying.

MONUC did not confirm this information, but instead noted its satisfaction with the ongoing withdrawal of all foreign forces. "Our observers are everywhere and have verified the withdrawal. In any event, we will revisit all locations occupied by various forces to verify the status of pull-outs," Diallo said in response to the ASADHO account.

For his part, the MONUC head and Special Representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Amos Namanga Ngongi, said he had confidence in all parties to the withdrawal process. "Now is not the time to make accusations against any party, as the process is progressing and the parties are respecting and honouring their commitments," Ngongi said.

He added that the Rwandan withdrawal could be completed before the end of next week, ahead of the agreed deadline. Rwanda has announced that the final stage of its withdrawal from the DRC was under way, from South Kivu Province. Zimbabwe made a similar declaration, announcing that the final withdrawal of its troops would begin on Friday, from the southeastern DRC city of Lubumbashi.

War in the DRC erupted more than four years ago when Rwanda and Uganda sent forces into the DRC to back Congolese rebels seeking to topple the government of President Laurent-Desire Kabila - who received the backing of forces from Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe to halt the offensive.

After Kabila's assassination in January 2001, his son Joseph became president and entered into negotiations with Rwanda and Uganda. The withdrawal of their forces has come in the wake of recent bilateral agreements Kabila reached with the two countries.