African leaders end Congo talks, set for truce
09:44 a.m. Jun 17, 1999 Eastern
By Buchizya Mseteka
JOHANNESBURG, June 17 (Reuters) - African leaders agreed on Thursday to sign a ceasefire on fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the Zambian capital Lusaka on June 26 following talks this week in Pretoria.
Zambian President Frederick Chiluba, acting as mediator, told Reuters that the Pretoria talks, attended by regional leaders and the Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), made ground.
''The talks were very successful and we agreed that all parties meet in Lusaka on June 26 to sign the ceasefire agreement,'' Chiluba said.
He added that the signing date had been moved from June 25 because it was the most convenient for the invited presidents.
The Lusaka summit would also be attended by Nelson Mandela, who retired on Wednesday as South Africa's president, former presidents Ketumile Masire of Botswana and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.
The Zambian president, who is mandated by regional leaders to mediate peace in the former Zaire, Africa's third largest country, gave no further details.
Embattled Congolese President Laurent Kabila, the key Congo player, stayed away, but Chiluba said this did not affect the Pretoria talks. Kabila was represented by his right-hand man, Presidential Affairs Minister Victor Pierre Mpoyo.
The closed-door talks, at the Government Guest House in Pretoria, were chaired by Chiluba. Others presidents attending were Sam Nujoma of Namibia, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, whose inauguration ceremony was held on Wednesday.
The leaders were joined by the secretary-general of the OAU, Salim Ahmed Salim, and the executive secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Kaire Mbuende.
Congo's latest war pits Kabila's government -- backed by southern African military allies Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe -- against rebels led militarily by Uganda and Rwanda.
The rebellion broke out in August after the rebels accused Kabila of corruption, nepotism, incompetence and failure to chart out a political programme for the Congo.
Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu, whose country is the military backbone of the rebellion against Kabila, also attended the talks.
The Congolese rebel delegation, led by new leader Emile Ilunga, arrived in South Africa on Wednesday but remained at a separate government guest house in Pretoria.
Rebel officials said they held consultations with South African officials led by Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi, who sources say is earmarked for the foreign portfolio in the new government to be announced by Mbeki on Thursday.
Chiluba's ''Made in Africa'' initiative aims at halting the 11-month-old war, kick-starting talks between Kabila, rebels and Congolese political parties, and the withdrawal of foreign troops from the former Zaire, Africa's third largest nation.
Chiluba, a former labour union leader who was mandated by regional leaders to mediate peace in the Congo, says the ceasefire draft is all-inclusive and contains input from presidents in the region, Libya, the OAU and the U.N.
South African government sources told Reuters that Mbeki had suggested amendments to Chiluba's draft. Mbeki wants two documents signed: one between Kabila and the rebels and another between Kabila and opposition parties in the country.
Chiluba's peace plan involves the costly deployment of United Nations blue helmets.
Congo's latest war erupted in August after mutinous soldiers accused Kabila of corruption, nepotism, incompetence and failure to chart out a clear political programme for the Congo.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. |
