Recieved this from the company today. A telephone conversation said that things are looking brighter, and all a matter of time. There has been some small buying from friends of the company. They see little or no risk and great upside from here. The fighting is still 1000 kil away and never has been a threat to the project. All the shipments of minnerals will go south out of the country when mined. It is still the politics that hold up progress. The key players are very much still in place. Company is glad to see the US starting to get involved.
roy
Sub-Regional Leaders To Meet On Congo Crisis
September 23, 1998
Libreville, Gabon (PANA) - Central Africa leaders meet in Libreville Thursday to discuss the crisis in the Democratic Republic, Robert Orango Berre, spokesman of the Gabonese president, said in a radio and television broadcast Wednesday.
Initiated by President Omar Bongo, the meeting would provide the leaders an opportunity "to make their contribution to initiatives by the Southern African Development Community, the OAU and the UN to end the war in the country.
It will also make it possible to "seek a peaceful settlement to the Congolese crisis and guarantee the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the DRC and the other countries of the region," Berre said.
President Laurent Kabila, who will attend the mini-summit, arrived Tuesday afternoon in Libreville, where he was received by Bongo.
Among the other leaders expected are Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo Brazzaville, Ange Felix Patasse of the Central African Republic and Idriss Deby of Chad.
Leave Congo, US tells foreign troops
September 24, 1998
By Times Reporter
Lusaka - The United States has called for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops currently defending Democratic Republic of the Congo President Laurent Kabila's government and hailed peace initiatives by some SADC leaders.
According to the Washington Line released yesterday, state department spokesman James Rubin on Tuesday urged all foreign troops to immediately leave the trouble-torn country to end hostilities.
Mr Rubin said his government supported peaceful means to resolve the conflict. He said the continued presence of foreign troops from Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda, Angola and Namibia, would undermine peaceful efforts being undertaken by the international community.
Mr Rubin appealed to leaders in the region to ensure interested parties in the Congo refrained from joining the fighting. He said his government was concerned about the human rights abuses in rebel-held areas.
Congo President Promises Elections
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - President Laurent Kabila plans to hold presidential elections next year, state-controlled radio reported today, an apparent reversal of earlier decisions to postpone the vote.
Kabila's recent success in fighting a six-week rebellion in this central African nation has boosted his popularity and may have influenced his decision to allow elections in April.
He has also been under international pressure to hold a national vote since taking power last year, ousting longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. He initially promised elections in 1999 but hedged several times, saying conditions may not be conducive to free and fair voting.
But today, the Voice of the People Radio quoted Kabila as saying, ''The election process will start with presidential elections.''
While many Congolese have said Kabila has done little to help the economy or rebuild the country, a growing number now say they support the president because of his ability to put down the uprising.
An army of ethnic Tutsi fighters, opposition politicians and former members of Kabila's army launched a rebellion in August to topple the government. But Kabila, with the help of Angolan, Zimbabwean and Namibian troops, has turned the tide of the civil war.
However, the rebels claim to hold much of eastern Congo, including Kisangani, the country's third-largest city. The government claims it is retaking the region.
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