UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

October 25, 2002
Posted to the web October 25, 2002

Kinshasa

Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe, which have supported the Kinshasa government during the past four years of war against rebel forces backed by neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, said on Thursday the final withdrawal of their armed forces from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) would take place by 31 October.

The announcement came at the end of a one-day summit hosted by DRC President Joseph Kabila and attended by Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Namibian President Sam Nujoma, and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

In a joint statement, the four allied nations also called for the strengthening of the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, and the verification of the withdrawal of Rwandan armed forces. They also voiced their support for the holding of an international conference on peace and development in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

The allied leaders urged Kabila to persevere in his efforts to reach national reconciliation through the resumption of negotiations leading to the formation of an all-inclusive, power-sharing transitional government and the eventual holding of national democratic elections.

"We are convinced that President Kabila will continue to make every effort to move the inter-Congolese dialogue forward towards achieving a durable peace, which is key to stability," dos Santos said at the end of the summit.

The inter-Congolese dialogue, which ended in April 2002 in Sun City, South Africa, with agreement reached among a majority of participants, was due to resume on Friday in Pretoria, South Africa. Representatives were expected from all Congolese parties to the conflict: the Kinshasa government, the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie, the Ugandan-backed Mouvement de liberation du Congo, unarmed political opposition groups and civil society organisations.

Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe sent an estimated 26,000 troops into the DRC in 1998 to counter an offensive launched on Kinshasa by rebel forces backed by Rwanda and Uganda.

On 30 July, the governments of the DRC and Rwanda reached a peace agreement in Pretoria to restore the sovereignty of the DRC and the security of Rwanda; DRC and Uganda likewise reached a similar accord in the Angolan capital, Luanda, on 6 September.

Rwanda has since announced the withdrawal of all its forces from the DRC, and this was verified by the Third Party Verification Mechanism set up by MONUC and South Africa, signatories to the Pretoria accord. [see http://www.dfa.gov.za/new/index.html]

Uganda, which has withdrawn most of its forces, still has a limited military presence in northeastern DRC at the request of the UN, in an effort to maintain stability in a region torn by ethnic conflict and rebel faction rivalries fuelled by economic interests.

Angola and Zimbabwe are in the process of withdrawing their remaining forces in the DRC, while Namibia has already completed its pullout.

The four leaders also pledged to improve their economic cooperation, which is based largely on the mining and petroleum sectors.

DRC Peace Talks in Pretoria Continuing

South African Press Association (Johannesburg)

October 27, 2002
Posted to the web October 28, 2002

Pretoria

Vital talks in Pretoria to find an interim power-sharing deal between warring parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will continue on Monday, officials said.

"They may go beyond tomorrow (Monday)," South African presidential adviser Billy Masetlha said on Sunday.

He said the different parties were on Sunday wrestling with details about what the different posts in a proposed transitional government would entail.

The meeting got underway on Saturday after it was delayed on Friday due to the late arrival of the DRC government delegation.

Both DRC rebel groups -- the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) and the Congo Liberation Movement (MLC) -- arrived in Pretoria on Friday.

The talks have been convened by special United Nations envoy Moustapha Niasse and South African President Thabo Mbeki.

On the agenda is a power-sharing proposal that has been put forward by South Africa.

It provides for DRC President Joseph Kabila to remain the head of a transitional government, with four vice-presidencies.

These will be taken up by representatives of the government, the RCD, the MLC, and of the internal political parties and civil society.

The interim government will prepare the way for democratic elections to end the four-year war in the vast central African country.

Masetlha on Sunday said there appeared to be different opinions on exactly what a president and his vice-presidents should do under the proposed transitional government.

"They are discussing he details of that," he said.

South Africa's ambassador to the DRC Sisa Ngombane said: "The participants are trying to get a solution that will suit everyone."

He said the talks might continue into the week, and could later be joined by other political parties from the DRC.

South Africa hopes that the fresh round of talks will complete negotiations begun at Sun City earlier this year at which the DRC government and the MLC struck a power-sharing agreement without the RCD.

Masetlha earlier said the current deliberations could be the final lap in reaching a settlement.

"We believe that we actually are at the last stage. We think that they (the Congolese) have this historic feat within their grasp," he said.

"In our view, the issues that remain in terms of the interim arrangements can be wrapped up within hours."

Rebel groups -- backed by Rwanda and Uganda -- went to war with the DRC government in 1998 in a conflict that embroiled seven other African countries at its height.

Most foreign troops have pulled out, but sporadic clashes between the internal belligerents have continued.

The Pretoria talks come in the wake of new fighting that erupted in the eastern parts of the DRC last week.