Stubborn Argentine doctor leaves Zaire war zone

[Reuters]

BUENOS AIRES (Reuter) - An ailing Argentine aid worker who
reportedly was the only doctor to ignore a United Nations call
to leave Zaire's war-torn city of Bukavu has finally been
evacuated, his daughter said Thursday.
Dr. Abel Pasqualini's makeshift surgery in a Bukavu house
had been ransacked by fighters and he had to carry out
operations with a pocket knife. The United Nations ordered aid
workers out of Bukavu in October, but Pasqualini remained
despite a serious pancreas infection which needs surgery.
``He stayed on in Zaire because he's stubborn and he loves
his profession. He was the only doctor still in the area, the
only hope for thousands of refugees,'' Pasqualini's daughter
Cristina told Argentine media.
But the doctor, who was a founder of Argentine aid group
Doctors in Catastrophe, was finally persuaded to leave by a
delegation including his wife and fellow aid workers from Buenos
Aires. He was driven 50 miles along a mined road and was taken
to Rwanda's capital Kigali.
Doctors in Catastrophe said Pasqualini was the only doctor
who ignored calls to leave Bukavu when fighting escalated in
mid-October.
Pasqualini arrived in Africa in 1994 and started working in
Rwanda during the bloody conflict between Hutus and Tutsis. He
should be back in Argentina next week, his daughter said.
Doctors in Catastrophe said they intended to continue
working in the Bukavu war zone, which is under the control of
rebel leader Laurent Kabila.