CONGO: US AMBASSADOR TO UN BILL RICHARDSON VISIT
(8 Jun 1997) English/Nat The United States is willing to offer the Democratic Republic of Congo's new government military cooperation as an incentive to maintain human rights standards. After talks between U-S Ambassador to the U-N and Laurent Kabila, the Demcratic Republic of Congo President agreed to cooperate with an investigation into allegations that his forces killed refugees from the neighbouring Rwanda. Bill Richardson arrived in Lubumbashi on Sunday for talks with President Laurent Kabila. The two men looked relaxed as they sat down for the talks, also attended by Congo Foreign Minister Bizima Karaha. President Laurent Kabila, anxious to maintain the western goodwill he garnered during his seven-month war to oust Zairean dictator Mobutu, agreed to allow U-N officials to freely investigate alleged refugee massacres. Kabila's forces had previously prevented access to areas humanitarian groups believe became killing fields during the war. Kabila not only made that commitment on Sunday but also brought up military cooperation in the same meeting. Richardson said Kabila had agreed to prosecute violators of human rights and give full access to representatives of aid agencies working with tens of thousands of Rwandan refugees in Congo. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I had a good constructive meeting with President Kabila and his team. First we discussed bilateral relations. I expressed appreciation for his efforts to avoid fighting in Kinshasa and for his announced timetable for elections. We also talked about other issues. The President promised that his government will cooperate with the U-N mission to look into allegations of killings here and permit this mission to begin by July 7. We consider this a major breakthrough." SUPER CAPTION: Bill Richardson, U-S Ambassador to the U-N Kabila commented on the Republic's wish to secure economic support from the United States. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Yes, we are still talking about promise of aid. We are waiting to see the aid concretely." SUPER CAPTION: Laurent Kabila, President of Democratic Republic of Congo He also denied allegations that Hutu refugees from Rwanda were killed by his forces. SOUNDBITE: (English) "There is no mass killing in this country. So our enemies are very busy destroying the image of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the leader." Q:"It's a false image? A: "It's absolutely false image. " SUPER CAPTION: Laurent Kabila, President of Democratic Republic of Congo Kabila said the investigation would show that the allegations his forces had killed Hutu refugees from neighbouring Rwanda were wrong. Almost all the refugees are Hutus who fled Rwanda fearing reprisals after the slaughter there of 500-thousand Tutsis by militant Hutus in 1994. The United States also wants to see the implementation of promised democratic and free market reforms in the country. Kabila has already started to open up markets. He has promised a constitution within a year and elections in April 1999. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
