By Hrvoje Hranjski
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, June 7, 2000; 9:17 a.m. EDT

KISANGANI, Congo –– Mortar shells struck the Roman Catholic cathedral in Kisangani today, where U.N. military observers have been headquartered since renewed fighting began between Ugandan and Rwandan forces earlier this week.

The 107mm shells coming from Ugandan positions hit the corrugated iron roof of the twin-spired stone cathedral, setting the wooden beams supporting the roof on fire. At least 100 people rushed into the cathedral on the north bank of the Congo River to salvage wooden pews, prayer books and vestments.

The cathedral's tolling bell calling for help mingled with bird's chirping and the pop and thud of small arms and mortar fire on the third day of fighting in Congo's third-largest city. Ugandan and Rwandan forces were supposed to be completing a U.N.-supervised withdrawal when the fighting broke out.

Rwandan and U.N. officials said the Ugandans crossed the Tshopo River bridge several miles north of the cathedral and had begun to move into the city, most of which was under Rwandan control.

"This is a breach of a cease-fire," said Lt. Col. Akram Hossein, head of the 21-man U.N. military observer force in Kisangani.

Rwandan officials said the Ugandans opened fire first with 60mm and 82mm mortars around the bridge where the Rwandans had stopped the Ugandans' attempt to enter Kisangani from the north. No immediate comment was available from Ugandan officials.

Both sides had agreed to a U.N.-brokered cease-fire Tuesday after two days of fierce fighting, and by early evening today only sporadic gunfire was heard.

It was the U.N.'s third attempt to stop the fighting in Kisangani between the two erstwhile allies. Each backs a separate rebel faction in the 22-month war against Congolese President Laurent Kabila. Both Rwanda and Uganda have been using Kisangani as a base to supply their troops in Congo.

Congolese civilians have borne the brunt of the random shelling, which is reported to have hit a school in Tshopo district near the bridge.

Kisangani's main hospital reported at least two dead and 60 wounded since Tuesday, a third of them children.

"They are fighting their own wars in our city. This has nothing to do with us," said 35-year-old businessman Gabriel Makombo, as he ran along the Congo River dodging shells and bullets.

On Tuesday, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni told parliament his troops would not complete an agreed-upon withdrawal from Kisangani without a U.N.-supervised cease-fire. In March, both sides agreed to pull back 60 miles, leaving a small force of 216 men each at bases in the city.

The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned the fighting Tuesday and reiterated its call for the demilitarization of the area.

Both armies were in the process of withdrawing from Kisangani when fighting broke out Monday. Each side blamed the other.

Under the Lusaka agreement signed by Rwanda, Uganda and the rebels as well as Congo and its allies, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia, foreign troops are to withdraw from Congo under the supervision of a 5,537-strong U.N. force. So far, no more than 100 unarmed U.N. military observers have deployed in Congo. The remainder are expected next month.

Preliminary talks aimed at charting Congo's political future were cut short in Benin when a Congolese government delegation did not turn up. Delegations from the two major rebel factions, the Ugandan foreign minister and some civil society representatives attended the opening session Tuesday of what was expected to be a three-day meeting convened by international mediator Ketumile Masire, the former president of Botswana.

They abandoned the talks late Tuesday, however, because Congolese President Laurent Kabila was not represented. The Congolese government would not meet with the rebels, Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Yerodia said Monday in Kinshasa.