11.   But the refugees now straggling into Kisangani say the rebel soldiers were working hand in hand with the local villagers to drive them away.

12.   But this victory for nature was not widely applauded by local villagers, who seem to have sharper memories of land lost than of ecological disasters.

13.   Deciding it would be safest to follow local villagers into the hills, he and his family abandoned their car and hiked to the small village of Gocke.

14.   Even more ominously, local villagers report that rebel troops have been attacking and killing refugees.

15.   Food shipments intended to keep them alive in Zaire have been looted by local villagers with encouragement and approval from rebel forces.

16.   He asked the local villagers along for the ride.

17.   He said the rebels responded with gunfire when they were attacked by armed Hutu guerrillas, and then intervened to stop skirmishes between the refugees and local villagers.

18.   In the meantime, the force provided what humanitarian assistance it could to local villagers and meticulously recorded each blow to the peace it had hoped to keep.

19.   Kabila has maintained that his troops did not attack the refugees, and only intervened to stop local villagers from looting the camps.

20.   Last week, tensions between the refugees and local villagers exploded.