NOVEMBER 19, 04:21 EST
Congo Deal Said Only Path to Peace
By HRVOJE HRANJSKI
Associated Press Writer
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) ? A top U.S. official said a regional accord completed in August is the only path to peace in Congo and must be implemented quickly to avoid slipping back into war.
Susan Rice, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said Thursday that the United States would ``not deal lightly' with those countries or groups that violate the Lusaka peace agreement, named after the Zambian capital where it was signed.
``I'm not saying I'm optimistic or pessimistic, but Lusaka is the only viable way. It can and must be implemented,' said Rice, speaking to journalists in Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe through a satellite link from Washington.
``You cannot walk away from it. There is no other viable vehicle for peace,' she said.
Rice did not specify the steps the Clinton administration would take to punish violators of the accord, saying only that it would use all its diplomatic resources and influence to implement the accord.
The Democratic Republic of Congo receives no significant economic assistance from the United States or any Western European government.
The peace agreement was signed by Congolese President Laurent Kabila and his allies Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, and by the rebels and their supporters, Rwanda and Uganda.
The agreement calls for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of foreign forces and the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers, as well as a national dialogue among all Congolese political factions.
Recently, both the rebels and the government have accused each other of renewed attacks in northern Congo.
Among the obstacles to peace, Rice singled out hostile rhetoric, government bombings, rearmament by all sides in the conflict and reports of human rights abuses in rebel-held eastern Congo.
The national dialogue has not started yet because the government and the rebels have been unable to agree on a neutral facilitator, she said.
Rice said Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, would travel to African capitals in early December to discuss how to advance the peace agreement. U.S. officials said Rice would travel with Holbrooke.
Rice insisted the accord was the only means to peace and stability in Central Africa because it preserved Congo's territorial integrity, established a framework for its transition to democracy and addressed the security concerns of neighboring countries, who fear rebels using Congolese territory to launch cross-border raids.
``We don't see any other way of dealing with those problems,' she said.
A joint military commission made up of representatives of both sides is charged with investigating cease-fire violations and disarming Rwandan Hutu militiamen who carried out the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and have since joined Kabila's forces. |
