Hopeful news for the DRC
Franco-African summit opens amid Congo hopes
08:23 a.m. Nov 27, 1998 Eastern
PARIS, Nov 27 (Reuters) - President Jacques Chirac opened the 20th Franco-African summit on Friday amid hopes that a ceasefire might be called before the end of the year in the four-month old war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A record 35 heads of state plus high-level representatives from a further 14 former French, British and Portuguese colonies were attending the two-day conference, which is focusing on security issues.
''At the end of 1998, a quarter of states in sub-Saharan Africa are facing crises, which in the majority of cases have spilled over national boundaries,'' Chirac said in his opening address.
The biggest current conflict in the area is the Congo rebellion, which has sucked in several neighbouring powers and risks degenerating into a major regional confrontation unless a negotiated settlement is reached soon, military analysts said.
Almost all the key players were in Paris for the summit, including Congo President Laurent Kabila, and were sitting around the same table for the first time since the fighting broke out at the start of August. The gathering is due to end at midday on Saturday with a news conference chaired by Chirac.
French Cooperation Minister Charles Josselin told France-2 television on Friday he was confident that the warring parties would soon lay down their weapons.
''I have good hopes that the (United Nations) Security Council could receive in December a protocol for a ceasefire that would confirm an agreement between all the parties to the conflict,'' he said, adding that France had been trying to bring off some ''hotel diplomacy.''
''Hotel rooms for the summit had been distributed to put foes next to each other. If they take advantage of this to meet and make peace, France could be proud to have helped,'' he said.
Rwanda President Pasteur Bizimungu told reporters he was ready to meet Kabila and all the parties to the conflict. He would meet Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Friday ''out of courtesy.'' Zimbabwe supports Kabila against the Rwandan-backed rebels.
Chirac repeated his call for a peace conference for the Great Lake region of central Africa, saying the area had been affected by an endless chain of crises.
''We are doing this because we are convinced that the causes
of these crises are complex, serious and interconnected, and have to be treated as such in a global fashion,'' he told delegates in the central Paris Louvre complex.
Chirac gave Kabila a noticeably cool welcome when the RDC leader arrived for the opening session of the conference.
The French media have painted him as the boogeyman of the summit and a human rights group has lodged a lawsuit against him for ''torture, inhuman and degrading treatment,'' during his overthrow of President Mobuto Sese Seko last year.
However, Josselin said there was no question that Kabila would be arrested. ''As a guest, he enjoys immunity,'' he said.
Sources at the Paris state prosecutor's office said no action would be taken as the allegations made in the lawsuit were not detailed enough.
Calls mounted for Kabila to push for a ceasefire. ''We can understand Kabila's position, but it is essential that we find a formula for dialogue,'' the president of the neighbouring Congo Republic, Denis Sassou Nguesso, told reporters.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan told the summit that Africans must work together to resolve their problems.
''Conflicts are caused by human action and can be ended by human action, but that requires imagination and patience,'' he said. Annan is the first U.N. leader to attend one of the biennial Franco-African summits.
INTERVIEW-Gecamines chief denies Zimbabwe tradeoff
07:56 a.m. Nov 13, 1998 Eastern
By Darren Schuettler
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Billy Rautenbach, the new chairman of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's mining giant Gecamines, on Friday rejected speculation that his surprising appointment was linked to Zimbabwe's role in fighting a rebellion in the mineral rich country.
Rautenbach also pledged to revive the struggling state-owned company by slashing costs, boosting output and speeding up talks with major foreign mining firms seeking to invest in the Congo.
''The first thing is to get some confidence into the market that Gecamines will be up and coming again,'' Rautenbach told Reuters in a telephone interview.
The appointment of the 38-year-old, Zimbabwean-born businessman surprised the mining world in which Rautenbach is relatively unknown.
His company, Ridgepointe Overseas Developments Ltd, is better known in auto and transportation circles, but has a mining project in the Congo. The company has previously been referred to in media and Reuter reports as Richpoint.
Nevertheless, the shakeup at Gecamines and other recent business deals involving Zimbabwean companies has fuelled speculation that Kabila is tapping his country's mineral resources to pay African allies helping the Kinshasa government fight a rebel army.
Kabila's forces have been bolstered by Angolan, Zimbabwean and Namibian soldiers battling a rebel coalition backed by Uganda and Rwanda.
Rautenbach said his appointment to Gecamines and a mine rehabilitation and management pact signed with Ridgepointe in September had nothing to do with Zimbabwe's support of Kinshasa.
''It's sad. Because I was born in Zimbabwe and I'm still a Zimbabwe citizen. They have been trying to put the two together, but it's not the case at all,'' Rautenbach said.
''I went in there (the Congo) before the conflict started. It has nothing to do with (Zibabwean president Robert) Mugabe or anything. We're not involved with individual politicians. We run a reputable business here.''
Last year, Ridgepointe made its first foray into Congo mining through a joint venture project with Gecamines. The project is 80 percent owned by its subsidiary Central Mining Group and 20 percent by Gecamines.
''We have been mining up there since October, 1997, and we have had good successes with our operation. I was asked if I would like to assist in the Gecamines operation. That's really how it happened,'' Rautenbach said.
Gecamines was once the world's fifth largest producer of copper, but three decades of mismanagement and corruption during the era of former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko led to its collapse.
Since Kabila deposed Mobutu in 1997, a number of foreign mining companies have approached the government and Gecamines with proposals to revive the copper belt, the backbone of the Congo's economy.
In one of the few deals to be finalised since Kabila came to power, South Africa's Iscor won presidential approval for its Kamoto mine venture last month.
But larger projects involving companies such as Anglo American Corp, Billiton, America Mineral Fields and Union Miniere have suffered delays due to the war and bureaucracy.
Rautenbach vowed to speed up negotiations with mining companies and make the process more ''investor friendly.''
''I'll ensure that things will move a lot more quickly than in the past,'' he said. ''Anglo or Billiton or any of these companies -- we would love to talk to them and get them there.''
Rautenbach said his strategy will focus on fighting corruption at Gecamines, cutting costs and increasing output. He set a production target of 200,000 tonnes copper and 7,000 tonnes cobalt for next year. Gecamines' current annual output is 40,000 tonnes of copper and about 4,000 tonnes of cobalt. |
