Updates,
SA troops for DRC?
Maybe, says Zuma
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 3.00pm.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOREIGN Minister Nkosazana Zuma hinted on Monday that South Africa could send a peacekeeping force to the Democratic Republic of Congo if a ceasefire is reached in the war-ravaged country.
"South Africa should participate in peacekeeping where there is a need," Zuma said on SABC radio when asked about the possibility of South African peacekeepers for the DRC.
"But I think those details have to be worked out as soon as there is a resolution and an agreement (on a ceasefire)," the new minister added.
Parties involved in the conflict, which has drawn in several African countries since a rebel uprising last August, hope such an agreement will be reached during a meeting of ministers in Lusaka this week, expected to culminate in a heads of state summit.
Sunday 6.00pm. SOUTH Africa's new Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma said on Sunday she will focus on regional relations and make peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo a priority.
In an interview with SABC television, Zuma said: "We would like a ceasefire in the DRC and a standstill of foreign troops, and the Congolese beginning a meaningful dialogue to resolve the problems there."
Zuma said that although peace efforts are being led by Zambian President Frederick Chiluba, South Africa will remain in touch with all belligerents in the 10-month-old war.
"We have been talking to all parties concerned and we will continue talking to them. ... There can be no stability if there is no peace."
She is sending her deputy Aziz Pahad to a peace summit on the DRC in the Zambian capital of Lusaka on June 26.
Zuma, whose appointment as foreign minister on Thursday came as the biggest surprise of President Thabo Mbeki's new cabinet, said she will concentrate on relations with African countries, particularly those in the south. --AFP |
