FEARS of all out war between Zaire and Rwanda have increased, as close to a million refugees in eastern Zaire are running out of food and complete chaos threatens the region.
Eastern Zaire's most senior Catholic churchman, Archbishop Christophe Munzi Hirwa, was killed in Bukavu on Tuesday night. According to a church spokesman he was "caught in an ambush" and his body was found yesterday.
International mediation efforts intensified as UN, Organisation for African Unity and EU representatives had talks with Zairean land Rwandan leaders. But the military conflict and humanitarian crisis escalated, as senior Zairean and Rwandan figures spoke of the possibility of war.
On Tuesday night Rwandan and Zairean forces exchanged shellfire across the border between the two countries at Bukayu, and a Rwandan commando unit crossed into Zaire for a period. Yesterday Zaire accused Rwanda and Burundi of invading the country, and warned that Zaire would defend its territory.
For his part, Rwanda's Vice President and Defence Minister, Mr Paul Kagame, warned: "If there is a war to be fought, I will fight." Asked at a press conference in Kigali whether Rwanda was moving closer to war with Zaire, he said: "Going by the declarations made by Zaire there is every indication that we are going in that direction."
But in Dublin Mr Kagame's adviser, Mr Claude Dusaiti, said his country wanted to avoid being drawn into military conflict: "Our basket of problems is full."
Meanwhile, the region's former colonial power, Belgium, said yesterday It was prepared to host a meeting between the leaders of Zaire and Rwanda under EU auspices.
The Belgian Foreign Minister, Mr Erik Derycke, said he had asked the EU Commissioner responsible for humanitarian aid, Ms Emma Bonino, to consider initiating talks in Brussels between the Rwandan and Zairean governments "given the extent of the human drama."
Tutsi Banyamulenge fighters were reported yesterday to have captured half of Bukavu, the main town in eastern Zaire. Heavy firing was also heard near the town of Goma, around which more than 300,000 refugees live in camps.
For the past fortnight, the Banyamulenge have been making dramatic military gains against the disorganised, unpaid Zairean army. The conflict is taking place in the area of Zaire bordering Rwanda and Burundi, and in many respects mirrors the ethnic tensions in those countries.
The Banyamulenge are a Tutsi people whose ancestors came to Zaire from Rwanda over 200 years ago. Their military campaign began after Zaire, which never welcomed their presence, told them to leave.
The conflict is complicated by the presence in the area of over a million Hutu refugees, who left Rwanda in 1994. Many had been involved in the 1994 genocide, which left over 500,000 Tutsis dead, and they fled Rwanda, fearing reprisals, when the Tutsi dominated Rwandan Patriotic Army won Rwanda's civil war.
Now in the face of Tutsi Banyamulenge advances, hundreds of thousands have fled their refugee camps in eastern Zaire. Afraid to return to Rwanda, they have moved deeper into Zaire. This has brought them miles from the food supplies and aid agencies which are based in Rwanda. According to Concern, most have less than a week's supply of food with them.
Even refugees still in camps are receiving minimal food aid because the UN is afraid that supplies will soon run out.
roads are blocked, nothing is coming in. We are really very anxious," said Mr Panos Moumtzis of the UNHCR.
The UN is trying to avoid a repeat of 1994, when thousands died daily of cholera and dysentery in eastern Zaire camps. At Mugunga camp near Goma, 400,000 refugees have crowded into the world's biggest, most densely packed camp, and the priority is to avert epidemics.
Aid agencies want the border between Zaire and Rwanda reopened to allow food supplies in to the refugees. A meeting of east African leaders in Tanzania on Saturday is expected to consider establishing "humanitarian corridors" to allow emergency aid to reach refugees in Zaire. Such routes would also be designed to allow Rwandan Hutu refugees to return safely to Rwanda.
The leaders are also expected to consider establishing a multinational African peacekeeping force to protect those corridors, with logistical and financial support from the EU and the US.
This proposal has emerged from meetings in the region this week between the EU envoy, Mr Ajello, and political leaders in Zaire and Rwanda. For such a force to be established, however, Zaire would have to be persuaded to agree to it.