Multinational commander going back to east Zaire

[Reuter / Jonathan Wright]

NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuter) - The Canadian general in charge of
a multinational force for eastern Zaire said Friday he was going
back to Zaire for more information about the plight of about
165,000 Rwandan refugees adrift in the countryside.
Lt. Gen. Maurice Baril told a news conference in Nairobi his
main concern was for a large group of about 150,000 refugees
living off the land in a valley about 40 miles west of the
eastern city of Goma.
If he decided it was necessary and safe for the air crew, he
would not hesitate to order airdrops of food for the refugees,
even against the wishes of the government in Kinshasa and the
Zairian rebels who control much of eastern Zaire, he said.
``Tomorrow I'm going into Rwanda and my intention is to go
across into eastern Zaire and try to find out for the second
time what the situation is on the ground,'' he said.
Baril saw rebel leader Laurent Kabila in Goma last week but
the rebels told him the crisis was over because most of the
Rwandan refugees have already gone home. The rebels do not want
the multinational force to deploy on the ground, for fear it
might help the Zairean army regain control of the area.
Kinshasa opposes airdrops, apparently because the food could
fall into the hands of the rebels and their local supporters.
Canadian Defense Minister Doug Young said Thursday that the
multinational force would probably not have to make food
airdrops or intervene militarily in any major way.
``It doesn't look as though they (airdrops) are going to be
required in any significant way because the NGOs
(non-governmental organizations) are in that area on the border
between Zaire and Rwanda,'' Young told reporters.
But Baril said it would be premature to rule out any course
of action until he had more information.
``We hope that if the front moves forward or stabilizes then
we will have access (to the large group of refugees) with
reconnaissance or humanitarian agencies.
``If they can't move because they are too weak, then we will
probably consider very seriously using air delivery means
(airdrops)...It's complex, it's dangerous for the air crew that
fly in there and it will have to be absolutely necessary. If it
is necessary, I won't hesitate to use it,'' he said.
Asked if he would disregard the objections of the Zairian
government, he said: ``It would have to be in the last resort.
It would have to mean that tens of thousands of lives are in
danger. Do you think that I would have a conscience problem
doing it or not at that time? And my mandate is also under
Chapter Seven to operate in eastern Zaire.''
Under Chapter Seven of the U.N. charter, the Security
Council has wide powers to preserve peace and security.
``I know their (the Zairian government's) position and I
know it's very delicate and we are very sensitive to their
position also,'' the general added.
He denied that his contacts, criticised by Kinshasa, with
the Zairian rebels amounted to negotiations.
``I don't negotiate,'' he said. ``I coordinate with those
who are holding ground and that's a wise thing to do. When we
don't know where the front is, we don't know what the risk is.''
Baril said that apart from the group of 150,000, U.S. and
British reconnaissance plans had tracked two much smaller groups
of refugees -- one of up to 1,000 north of the town of Masisi
and one of up to 8,000 on the road from Bukavu west to Kindu.
The Kisangani office of the medical charity Medecins sans
Frontieres said Friday that more than 100,000 refugees were
trekking northwest from the Goma-Bukavu area and many of them
were now in the town of Walikale.
The general did not mention these refugees, who are on the
outer limit of the strip the planes have been checking.