USIA - State Department Report, 97-05-29

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From: The United States Information Agency (USIA) Home Page at <http://www.usia.gov>

REPORT ON STATE DEPT. NOON BRIEFING, THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1997

(Sierra Leone, Congo/Kabila) (780)

SIERRA LEONE -- The evacuation of some 300 U.S. citizens will be completed May 30 from the Mammy Yoko Hotel in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, Dinger said. Helicopters from the carrier Kearsarge carrying a team of U.S. Marines arrived in Freetown early May 29 to develop evacuation plans with the personnel of the U.S. Embassy. Seventeen nonessential U.S. Embassy personnel and dependents will be evacuated; 15 official U.S. government personnel, including the Ambassador, will remain to operate the Embassy.

So far, Dinger said, the insurgents have not targeted U.S. citizens for hostile action, although two were hurt when their home were looted. Freetown remains relatively calm, he reported.

Ann Wright, the U.S. charge d'affaires in Freetown, has been in contact with the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) coup leaders, urging that they insure the safety of U.S. citizens and other foreigners during the planned evacuation. "She has also -- importantly -- urged them to restore authority to the democratically elected government immediately," Dinger said.

Complicating the situation is the number of forces operating in Sierra Leone, Dinger said. These include coup participants, the previously established military, various militias left over from a recent civil war and supporters of the popularly elected government.

In Washington, D.C. May 29, Sierra Leone's Ambassador to the United States came to the State Department with some 50 supporters to request that U.S. military forces join the 1,500 Nigerian troops now in Freetown to stabilize the situation and help the year-old elected government regain its rightful power from the military coup leaders. The Ambassador said there is no popular support for the coup leaders.

But Dinger emphasized that the sole purpose of the U.S. Marine contingent is to evacuate American citizens. Third-country citizens wishing to leave will be evacuated on a space available basis. The Nigerian troops, members of Economic Community of West African States Cease-Fire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), have been maintaining security at the airport and the Mammy Yoko Hotel, where many foreigners reside.

Dinger emphasized that the United States condemns the coup as well as the looting of humanitarian supplies. The United States has committed some $28 million in humanitarian assistance to Sierra Leone, and this aid will continue, Dinger said. But nonhumanitarian aid amounting to $1 million will be cut off until the democratically elected government resumes power, Dinger said.

CONGO/KABILA -- Dinger said the United States welcomes the announcement by Laurent Kabila that elections will be held in the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire, in April 1999.

Kabila, leader of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire, which ousted dictator Mobutu Sese Seko earlier this month, officially assumed the office of President May 29. U.S. Charge d'Affaires Roger Meece attended the inaugural ceremonies. In his address to the nation, Kabila promised presidential and parliamentary elections in two years -- a timeframe which does not disturb the United States, according to Dinger.

"We have said that we hope that elections are held sooner rather than later, " Dinger said. "But we have to understand that Congo confronts real and severe problems -- not the least of which are in terms of infrastructure. A two-year period in that context does not seem unreasonable to us. We are pleased that in this announcement, President Kabila has obviously recommitted himself to a transition to democratic rule."

Dinger added that the U.S. hope is that "all factions, all parties will have a voice during the transition."

But Dinger emphasized that the United States still has deep concerns about the inability of the international community to investigate reports of massacres and other abuses of refugees -- mostly Rwandan Hutu -- that allegedly took place in the eastern part of the country.

Dinger acknowledged that much progress has been made in the evacuation of refugees to Rwanda, but that the job is not completed. He noted that Kabila has promised full access to investigators. "We want him to fulfill that promise; it has not been fulfilled yet," Dinger said.

Dinger also noted that Kabila has promised that if there were massacres, the perpetrators would be found and brought to justice. "We also want President Kabila to fulfill that promise," Dinger said.

Dinger added that any U.S. aid to the Democratic Republic of Congo "is going to be contingent on the record of the Alliance now that it is in power."

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