Newspaper Page Text
2A
MAY 8, 1997 AUGUSTA FOCUS
»,"’ P ¥ ;‘: ‘.
x:: es 5" /,a ’& / {‘_“;K
, . e .
<& 2 i
AFRICA R
EPORT 111.11111111
RWANDA
Refugees found
dead ahoard
crowded train
By Hrvoje Hranjski
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
KISANGANI, Zaire
At least 100 Rwandan Hutus were trampled to
death or suffocated late Sunday when panic
erupted on a train packed with thousands of
refugees hoping to be airhfted home from central
Zaire. Fifty others were injured.
Paul Stromberg, a spokesman for the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees, said it
wasn’t immediately clear if the tragedy oc
curred during a stampede to board the train
or whether the refugees were crushed in over
crowded boxcars.
“Despite the fact the doors of the wagons
were open, there was obviously a panic and
people died,” he said in Kisangani.
Rebel forces in control of the Kisangani
area have been packing all the refugees they
can find onto trains and dumping them on aid
workers at a transit camp, where the United
Nations is rushing to fly the Rwandans home.
“This will not stop repatriation, but we
need more control over the movement of
people,” said Stromberg. The UNHCR has
flown about 5,000 refugees to Rwanda since
the airlift started a week ago.
The dead were discovered when the train
reached Kisangani. Aid workers said they were
shocked by the scene of 100 people lying over each
other. The injured refugees were being cared for
at Kisangani University Hospital.
Rebels, who control three-fourths of the coun
try, agreed last week on the biggest refugee airlift
ever attempted in Africa. Rebels gave aid workers
until June 30 to clear out the refugees or rebels
would handle it themselves.
CARING:
Nursing homes are no longer the only option.
It’s something we don't Z,\ = Q
want to think about, F;‘y' 4 Q& ‘J
our parents getting older \‘!\ " [ RIS ¢
and how to care for them. A NSN3 @‘ l, ‘
NewsCHANNEL 6 W G W
anchor Mary Morrison / | ‘\ Y’ @l
shows you the ; ;A ‘ .'_ !
alternatives. ?&!-J-’,.;& | A
- G (A
CARING [fin (I/¥) ¢[) THe=
Monday, May 12th =
At 6PM Ll AR A \ "\‘L:é
sVWe r' < \\%%’:
TN o J Cel XS
WIBFOTV R 8
Coverage You Can Count On j
Rebel leader gives
Mobutu ultimatum
B Kabila to Mobutu: “Hand
over power or perish!” Rebel
forces close in on embattled
Zairian government.
By Dianna Cahn
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
LUBUMBASHI, Zaire
Claiming his troops were 40 miles from
Kinshasa’s airport and marching toward the
capital, Zaire’s rebel leader gave President
Mobutu Sese Seko an ultimatum today: Hand
over power in eight days or perish.
A day after his first face-to-face meeting
with the ailing dictator, rebel leader Laurent
Kabila also denied a U.N. envoy’s statement
that he had agreed to a cease-fire.
“He has to choose to relinquish power and
he is safeguarded, or he perishes with his
power,” Kabila, speaking in English, told
reporters today in his southeastern strong
hold, Lubumbashi.
Mobutu returned to Kinshasa this morn
ing where the streets were calm. There were
no signs of panic and little evidence the army
was preparing to defend the capital of six
million people.
Meanwhile, U.S. envoy Bill Richardson,
who wasinstrumental in settingup Sunday’s
talks, went to Lubumbashi today to deliver a
message to Kabila from President Clinton.
And Kabila denied ever agreeing to a cease
fire while the negotiating process was going
on.
Richardson, U.S. ambassadortothe United
Nations, said he stressed the United States’
longstandinz view that “there should be a
peaceful entry into the capital of Kinshasa—
a soft landing which avoids violence and
chaos.”
The United States, he said, also wants an
“inclusive” transitional government and fair
and open elections.
In Washington, White House spokeman
Mike McCurry spokesman said today the
Clinton administration urged “all sides to
lay down their arms and proceed with a
cease fire that will allow for restoration of
some measure of safety for the civilian popu
sy
il
lation.” i
At Sunday’s talks aboard a South African
navy vessel docked in the Congolese port of
PointeNoire, theonly thing Mobutu and Kabila
apparently were able to agree on was that they
would meet again. \
Mobutu, 66, whois seriously ill with prostate
cancer, agreed a transitional authority should
be established to organize elections, including
the election of a president. He said he would
hand over power tc an elected authority.
Kabila, whose forces control all but the far
north and west of the country, said Mobutu
must immediately end his nearly 32-year rule
and transfer power to the rebel alliance.
Thetwo mendecided to meet again within 10
days, but if Kabila’s troops continue to advance
westward at their current pace they will be in
Kinshasa before then.
Kabila, 56, said he refused to shake hands
with Mobutu at the meeting because “there is
no need to shake a bloody hand.” But he added
that he pitied the ailing president.
“In the state I saw him, it is a pity, so I don’t
dislike him now. I like him,” Kabila said — and
then laughed.
Asked about a statement Sunday from U.N.
envoy Mohammed Sahnounthat he had agreed
to a cease-fire as a good-will gesture before the
meeting, Kabila responded: “Who declared a
cease-fire? Absolutely not.”
If Mobutu refuses to resign within eight
days, Kabila said, “He will be chased from the
power, pushed out of Kinshasa in a few days.”
In less than seven months, rebel forces have
seized three-quarters of Africa’s third-largest
nation. Asked what he thought Mobutu would
do, Kabila said: “Maybe he will fight. Maybe he
will surrender before we reach the suburbs of
Kinshasa in two days.” |
Many Kinshasa residents are eagerly await
ingthearrival of Kabila’s forces to end the long
years of life under Mobutu’s corrupt and au
thoritarian regime. However, thereisfear that
the poorly paid, ill-disciplined government
troops will loot the city, then flee before the
rebels arrive. |
Twice this decade, Zairian troops have ram
paged through the capital, pillaging shops and
killing hundreds. |
After his meeting with Kabila, Richardson
said he was “very, very encouraged by Mr. '
Kabila’s tone of conciliation today.” |
~ Ll' -‘;. ,» ll' g‘v ;
-&- \ ‘ W
Y
§ ) ™y
{ ‘ T Y
4» n U
- _‘; - n\?
A 1 A a! Zl e
“\\s{ 0
Y .
. §
N B -
i i
‘ ‘.‘ 4
R
SOME THINGS REMAIN CONSTANT.
SPRING SHOWERS,
LITILE BOYS AND
PURDLES,
AND SURPRISINGLY, YOUR
ELECTRIC RATES.
go< { ke
. 3 “"“\f‘ej\)\ SR e
-\" 1 i -
%= i \ E %
b b, S f,- E
‘ 'fi_) 4 9 : ¢ ‘ Wy S ;
RS L oy,
AT N g R e
AN e h % g R N e
) : ‘. s%g‘ i» ‘ “ P 4 "'
Assuming leadership
A trivmphant Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, newly elected
president of the African National Congress Womens League
(ANCWL), celebrates at the League’s national congress held
in Rustenburg, South Africa, 60 miles northwest of
Johannesburg, recently. Known as Winnie Madikizela-
Mandela since her divorce last year, she defeated deputy
president Thandi Modise 656-114 as delegates to the :
group’s annual conference chanted their approval. (AP Photo)
South Africa’s Tutu appeals
for amnesty applicants
B Tutu’s appeal seeks
to spur mass confessions
of apartheid-era crimes.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
(AP) Archbishop Desmond Tutu
made an appeal Sunday for South
Africans who committed politically
motivated crimes duringapartheid
to apply for amnesty while they
still can.
“This is a cry from the heart,”
the chairman of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission said.
“I appeal to all of you, right across
the political spectrum, please take
this golden opportunity for am
nesty on the most generous terms
possible.”
The commission is investigat
ingabuses committed during more
than three decades of white-mi
nority rule. To promote reconcili
ation, it can grant amnesty to
people who confess crimes. The
deadline to apply for amnesty is
Saturday.
Tutu’s appeal was recorded for
broadcast on SABC television’s
weekly report on the commis
sion.
He specifically addressed
members of the apartheid
government’s security forces,
including those involved in cross
border operations, and anti
apartheid activists in the black
townships. He also mentioned
other township residents, mili
tary intelligence operatives and
leaders of political parties.
“Please come forward, because
this is an opportunity to put the
past behind you, to help in the
process of your own healing and
the healing of this beautiful
land,” the Nobel laureate said.
3 s
& A
y
Ah. those spécial thin
in life that neve ). SUS RIS
A\h.l”'_’,l They bring a smile
make us feel warm mside and
bring joy o us and out
famihies. Interestingly enouel
|
| Georgia Powvers electric rates
]
I are one of the things tha
have remained constant.a
well. In fact. while <o ma
(‘wim items and hotisehold
expenses have mereased m
Cost. Georgia | i e t
rates have remamned tl
same - overthe past b
years - keeping them amon
T NI TR RN R TR R rrE—=nTmr=——.
the lowest in the nation.
Accomplishing this was
no easy task. It meant
tightening our belts, and
continuously finding ways
1o run our l;usincss more
efficiently. But the effort was
worth it. And the result over
the past five years is just one
more constant we can all feel
good about.
Georgia Power, We're
committed to providing yon
superior service at the best
price possible — and that will
never change.
GEORGIAA
POWER
A SOUTHERN COMPANY
An Equal Opportunity Employer.