Mass slaughter and ethnic conflict continues ceaselessly on the troubled continent of Africa. Namibia, Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria . . . to this litany of nations torn apart by corrupt leadership, racial hatred and factional fighting is added the name of Zaire. Held in the iron grip of President Mobutu Sese Seko for 30 years it has had stability, of sorts. The head of state amassed a personal fortune of US$5 billion, while the country, 80 times the size of Belgium, was virtually impoverished.
Now that Mr Mobutu is seriously ill in a Swiss clinic, Zaire is on the brink of collapse, with a Tutsi rebel force driving the Zairean army before them and refugee camps filled with Rwandan Hutus at the mercy of the tribe whose people they slaughtered in a mass act of genocide in 1994.
There seems no end to killing and tribal feuds in Africa, and no answer as to how it can be stopped. The latest conflict has reinforced the growing belief of aid workers in Africa that their presence there may not so much alleviate the horrors as add to them. So long as the humanitarian agencies continue to offer sanctuary to the innocent victims of these wars, it leaves the way clear for the self-styled armies to fight it out between themselves.
The side-effects of war - destruction, the shattered economy, food shortages and endless waves of refugees - are someone else's problem. The factions responsible for the strife never inherit the human problems which are the result of their actions.
Some aid agencies in Zaire have had to leave because of the danger. They have tried to persuade Rwandan Hutus to return home, but it is Zaireans who are fleeing to the border, at the rate of 5,000 every hour, rather than Hutus, who are too terrified to return, but have nowhere left to run.
Desperate situations require desperate solutions. Some aid agencies believe the only way is to leave the rebels to clear up their own mess. That would be harsh, but in the long run, it might bring sanity to countries in the grip of madness.
