Angola opposes Moroccan moves in Zaire

Press, 11 April 1977, Page 6

Angola opposes Moroccan moves in Zaire

NZPA-Reuter London Angola has condemned the sending of Moroccan troops to Zaire, and reaffirmed that it has nothing to do with what it calls a provincial liberation struggle against the arbitrary power of President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire. The Moroccan Government said the first batch of an expeditionary force had arrived in Zaire to help the Kinshasa Government repel an invasion of its copperrich Shaba province Later, the Angolan Foreign Affairs Ministry, in a communique, referred to the first contingent as being an, estimated 800 men. The Min-' istry said it condemned “■with extreme vigour foreign intervention. be it African or not, in Zaire’s internal affairs.’’ It described the situation in Shaba, formerly the secessionist province of Katanga. as “a liberation' struggle carried out bv the Congo Liberation Army ” The. Ministrv said that 'in Shaba as in Kivu and Kin- , sha<=a and <vh<”- Zaire provinces. rebellions exist against the arbitrary nower of Mobutu Sese Seko,’’ and repeated earlier denials that

the Angolan Government : had anything to do with the I fighting. Charges by the Kinshasa Government that the Soviet l Union. Cuba and Angola are! behind the invasion of Shaba have been consistently rebutted by the three countries. General Raul Castro, number two in the Cuban Government of his brother, President Fidel Castro, was quoted by a United States congressman. Mr L. Aspin, as saying that the Shaba insurgents numbered between 1100 and 1300 and were led by Nathaniel Mbumba. In Washington, a State ' Department spokesman said Morocco’s armed forces had not told the United States of its decision to aid Zaire nor had it sought permission to use anv of its Americansupplied -equipment for the expeditionary force. Morocco’s King Hassan has received a telegram on the subject from Uganda’s President Idi Amin, accordin - to Uganda Radio. It said President Amin drew th'e king’s attention tn accusations circulating in Africa that he had taken . military sides in the internal affairs of another State.