Baril has yet to comment on Kabila's statements. Kabila and his forces took a swath of territory along Zaire's borders with Rwanda and Burundi in October. Zaire opposes setting up of the U.N. military headquarters in Uganda, said Kamanda, the interior minister. The force will be much smaller than the 10,000 envisioned by Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien when he called for the mission three weeks ago. Since the moves to set up the force began, some 600,000 refugees left Zaire and returned to Rwanda.
Accounts vary about how many refugees remained in Zaire.
Zaire Meanwhile, near the northern tip of the rebel-held territory, the Ugandan army entered Zaire and seized the town of Kasindi and surrounding hills, the Ugandan government newspaper New Vision reported Saturday. The paper said 23 Ugandan rebels were killed in the attack for allegedly raiding western Uganda. We are fed up with these bandits. He said the rebels were backed by Zaire. The Zairian government has denied the allegations.