Wed Apr 3, 2002 2:18 PM ET Africa Seeks Rwanda, Zimbabwe Pullout From Congo - By Manoah Esipisu [Excerpt] LUSAKA (Reuters) - African leaders meeting here to kickstart peace talks in the Democratic Republic of Congo put pressure on Rwanda and Zimbabwe to withdraw their armies from the country, diplomats said Wednesday. Six African states have troops in the war dubbed Africa's World War I, of which Zimbabwe and Rwanda have the biggest deployments, diplomats said. They said Rwanda had over 20,000 troops in the Congo and there were about 15,000 Zimbabwe troops there. Diplomats said a firm commitment was needed from Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe to implement a peace deal. "The key issue here is an agreement on a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign armies. Rwanda and Zimbabwe are at the center of this," an African ambassador at the talks told Reuters.
The summit in the Zambian capital comes a day after the latest setback to ongoing peace negotiations in the South African resort of Sun City. Rwandan-backed rebels threatened on Tuesday to resume war over a dispute with the government over a town in eastern Congo. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy Namanga Ngongi told a plenary session of the summit in Lusaka that the world body would like to see an accelerated withdrawal of foreign armies. "Namibia has withdrawn all its troops, Angola has withdrawn most of its forces and Uganda has carried out large-scale withdrawals," Ngongi told the summit. "Rwanda says it has withdrawn some troops but there has been no verification by the United Nations. Zimbabwe has also withdrawn some troops. What we want is an acceleration of this process," Ngongi added. Diplomats said Angola, Burundi and Uganda had indicated they would be ready to complete a pullout from Congo without conditions. Rwanda, a victim of a 1994 genocide, wants border security and guarantees that Congo will not be used to attack it. Zimbabwe refuses to pull out, saying it is there to protect Congo's sovereignty. [End Excerpt]
After the checks, Innocent (Mugabe) arranged to meet Marsischky at the home of his mother, Sabina - Mugabe's elder sister - where a parcel of diamonds was waiting to be inspected. Marsischky claims that when he asked if the correct documentation would be available he was told it would be forwarded to the US after the diamonds had left the country. Marsischky refused to come to the viewing.
Zimbabwe -- Mugabe's sister wanted victim's house*****'GIVE me the house and furniture' Sabina Mugabe told farmer who was later shot. Fred Bridgland in Johannesburg and Philip Sherwell in Harare report Sabina Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president's oldest sister, wanted property on the farm of Terry Ford, killed by settlers last week, for herself, according to local farmers and the country's Commercial Farmers Union. Miss Mugabe, the Zanu-PF MP for Zvimba South, Robert Mugabe's home area, and Agness Rusike, a leader of the so-called war veterans, united to lead a terror campaign against white farmers and their workers in Mr Ford's area of Norton 16 months ago.****
Zimbabwe -- NGOs seek help as political refugees swell to 50,000 ****Solutions suggested to international agencies include the establishment of a tented "city" in Harare, where most displaced people have fled to, and the provision of food and other necessities.
NGOs yesterday made submissions detailing the extent of the internal refugee problem and the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis brewing in Zimbabwe, where over 70,000 were estimated to have fled their homes between January 2001 and February 2002 because of violence blamed on ruling ZANU PF supporters.
The number of internal refugees has swelled in the aftermath of last month's disputed presidential poll, which has been followed by a campaign of retribution by ZANU PF militia against members and perceived supporters of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).****
British Officials Report Assets Frozen of Zimbabwe's Re-elected President Mugabe**** Mar 31, 2002 (Sunday Business - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- Millions of dollars secretly deposited in the offshore financial haven of the Turks & Caicos by Zimbabwe's recently re-elected president, Robert Mugabe, have been frozen, according to British intelligence sources.
He has used accounts in the Caribbean islands to store funds from his Isle of Man-based Eagle Investments through which much of his wealth is concentrated. Last month the European Union and the US froze the assets of Mugabe and his associates and placed an arms embargo on Zimbabwe. But the Turks & Caicos are British territories and do not fall under EU jurisdiction.****
This article represents a media offensive by the cartel to shut off the flow of these diamonds, and thus restore the cartel's profits.
This was behind the UK's deployment of troops to Sierra Leone recently. The rebels there were flooding the market with diamonds via Liberia. The wire-pullers from De Beers told Blair to stop the flow via a deployment of forces under the guise of "peacekeeping".
Such is life in our post-industrial, crony-capitalism west.