|
(Continued from page 5)
On the Congolese government side, the granting of mineral concessions to military allies has been well documented: offshore oil wells to Angola, diamond and cobalt to Zimbabwe, a share of a diamond mine to Namibia. Among the rebels and foreign invaders who control the eastern half of Congo (and perhaps 20 percent of its resource wealth, according to the government minister for investments), the expropriation of diamonds, timber, coffee, and gold is also taken for granted.
Uganda, which supports the rebel group that occupies Congo's main gold-mining region around Bunia, exported 10 times more gold ore after entering Congo than it did five years ago, according to official statistics.
But col-tan, once regarded as less desirable than the tin ore with which it usually is found, would outpace them all.
"We raise more or less $200,000 a month from diamonds," said Onusumba, whose army also controls the regional diamond trading center of Kisangani. "Col-tan gives us more: a million dollars a month."
The money pays the expenses of Rally's lightly trained army of 40,000, Onusumba said, and supports the recruiting drive for additional troops, who will be expected to fill the gap when Rwandan forces pull back from front lines as part of a regional peace plan. That plan, rejuvenated since Joseph Kabila replaced his slain father, Laurent, as Congo's president in January, calls for UN forces to deploy as observers.
Rwanda has been the primary military force in Congo since starting the war, but how the tiny, impoverished country financed its campaign - especially the military air transports needed to maintain a 1,000-mile front line - has frustrated diplomats and World Bank officials examining an official defense budget barely large enough to feed it army.
Informed that President Paul Kagame of Rwanda had quietly told diplomats the Rally covered such cost, Onusumba nodded.
In Walikale, said to have the highest quality col-tan ore in North Kivu province, farmers were even flown in from Rwanda to work in the mines, according to Eugene Ngayabaseka, North Kivu's provincial governor, who complained of being deprived of export tax revenue from col-tan mined at the site.
|
|
