CONGO: SASSOU-NGUESSO REQUESTS AID TO REBUILD BRAZZAVILLE

(23 Oct 1997) French/Nat

The victor in Congo Republic's four-month civil war, General Denis Sassou-Nguesso, returned on Thursday to the capital his troops helped destroy and asked the world's help in rebuilding it.

In a refrain heard often in this region, where armed force have driven three leaders from power in the past five months, Sassou-Nguesso said it was up to the country's civilians and the international community to help restore the war-battered country.

Hundreds turned out see the Republic of Congo's new leader General Sassou-Nguesso as he arrived in the capital.

Sassou-Nguesso's return to Brazzaville, however, was relatively low-key, a sign of his aides' security concerns.

There was no formal parade, although thousands of people gathered to listen to him speak and thronged his convoy at the Kintele refugee camp outside the capital.

Those who came to see the man who led Congo from 1979-91 did not hold back their enthusiasm.

UPSOUND:

We fought the enemy and we have won, the criminals fled. Now we have to get Brazzaville back on its feet, we must restore brotherhood, we must work together and listen to each other.

The general arrived in the rain-soaked city in a 60-car convoy of new Mercedes and other gleaming cars seized from his predecessor's government.

After greeting supporters along the way Sassou-Nguesso drove through the damaged gates of his Brazzaville house, where the war with President Pascal Lissouba began on June 5th.

Fighting broke out when Lissouba, who defeated Sassou-Nguesso in the country's first multiparty election in 1992, attempted to disarm Sassou-Nguesso's private Cobra militia before presidential elections planned for July.

Both men planned to run, and Lissouba said he wanted to disarm the militia - formed in response to past political violence - to ensure a peaceful campaign.

Sassou-Nguesso accused him of using the move as a ploy to spark violence so he would have a reason to cancel the vote and prolong his hold on power.

Lissouba has gone into exile in Burkina Faso but has yet to concede defeat, and there are concerns of continued unrest in the country and the region if allies of the ousted president decide to help him make a play for the capital again.

Lissouba's rival was evidently pleased to be back home.

SOUNDBITE: (French)

I'm here with a lot of emotion, yes. After all this is the place that was first surrounded on June 5th.
SUPER CAPTION: General Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Leader of the Republic of Congo

Sassou-Nguesso also said he would hold elections at a later date.

SOUNDBITE: (French)

It's not just the destruction of the infrastructure. There have been fractures in our society. It will take lots of work to regain harmony in all this. And after that elections.
SUPER CAPTION: General Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Leader of the Republic of Congo

Sassou-Nguesso is to be inaugurated president on Saturday at the parliamentary palace, where Red Cross workers this week were clearing away corpses in preparation for the event.

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