Word: tutsis
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...this was the plan, it had some sizable holes in it. Mugunga was nine miles farther into Zaire than the airport at Goma. Those inside Mugunga could not leave because they were being held in place by militant Hutu militias. And the camp was under siege by ethnic Tutsi rebels from Zaire, probably assisted by the Tutsi-led government of Rwanda. Another huge portion of refugees was presumed to be scattered in Zaire's forests. If Canadian, American, French, British and other soldiers simply sat on the tarmac in Goma, how would food ever reach the people who needed...
...another wavelength, most U.N. officials, aid workers and the leader of the Tutsi rebels, Laurent Kabila, talked of a more grandiose mission entirely. They expected not just simple handouts but a major effort to settle the violent tribal and political quarrels. Kabila told a news conference that any force that came in without a mandate to disarm the Hutu militias "would be useless." Others figured events and pressures on the ground would induce mission creep. "Let's get them in on one mandate," said a U.N. official in New York City, "and see what happens when they get shot...
...Friday, however, it was embarrassingly evident that mission planners had known even less than anyone realized about the reality on the ground. The attacking Tutsi rebels finally routed the Hutu militias, who fled west from the Mugunga camp. Freed of their coercive overseers, thousands upon thousands of men, women and children then simply stood up and began pouring down the straight tarmac road toward Rwanda. By Saturday, 200,000 had crossed the border, and 350,000 more were on the way. They "looked healthy," reported Ray Wilkinson, a U.N. spokesman on the border. The formerly intimidated masses for whom...
...refugees in Zaire, like so many apparently humanitarian crises, was essentially political. They were at risk because they were held as political pawns by their Hutu captors. The U.S. and the U.N. chose to respond to human suffering and not to the continuing war between Hutu and Tutsi forces--which holds no interest for Westerners. If the humanitarian mission had gone ahead without breaking the Hutu grip and sending the refugees home, another wave of agony was almost certain to convulse them in a few weeks or months. Now if the Hutu militants have lost their control, there...
...questionable command of his nation. Even in the best of times, his absence would provoke perilous consequences for a country hovering on the threshold of economic collapse after 30 years of high-handed rule. But since September, when Zaire's eastern provinces fell under attack from local Tutsi rebels, Mobutu's uncertain condition--and continued hold on power--has been a matter of dire import. Three weeks ago, Le Monde reported that his prostate cancer had metastasized to his bones. But a guest whom Mobutu received last week found that he looked relaxed and appeared in command of himself. Mobutu...