Hi all,
Lifted this from CNN looks good
Regards
john
Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania call for cease-fire, talks in Congo
May 5, 1999
Web posted at: 10:47 AM EDT (1447 GMT)
DODOMA, Tanzania (AP) -- Rwanda and Uganda, the backers of the rebellion against Congolese President Laurent Kabila, joined with Tanzania on Wednesday in calling for a cease-fire in the eight-month conflict.
Leaders from the two nations also endorsed an all-inclusive national dialogue on the political future of Africa's third-largest nation.
A seven-point communique issued at the end of talks among leaders of the three countries also emphasized the importance of dealing with the Rwandan Hutu militiamen fighting with Kabila's forces who participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda against the country's minority Tutsi population.
"I would say that leaders sat down and discussed in depth how to really move forward the peace process," Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete told reporters in Tanzania's political capital.
"A number of issues that have been appearing as kind of hurdles or impediments have been ironed out. Now, we hope the process will move forward much faster."
He would not say what the obstacles had been or how they had been removed.
Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Pasteur Bizimungu of Rwanda were joined by Rwandan Vice-President and Defense Minister Paul Kagame in five hours of formal talks Tuesday with Tanzanian leader Benjamin Mkapa and delegations from all three countries.
Congolese rebel leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba arrived by helicopter Tuesday, but Kikwete refused to acknowledge his presence although Tanzanian security and protocol officials did.
It was not known whether the head of the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RDC) met with the other leaders, who finished off the evening with private talks until midnight.
The rebels, a loose coalition of ethnic Congolese Tutsis, disaffected politicians and disgruntled former members of the Congolese Armed Forces, control about a third of the country with substantial backing in men and materiel from Rwanda and Uganda.
Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia intervened on Kabila's side when the rebels were poised to take Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, in August. Chad, which later sent at least 1,000 troops, has decided to withdraw them, saying that the conflict has been resolved.
Rwanda and Uganda have justified their intervention, citing security concerns involving the presence in eastern Congo of the Rwandan Hutu militiamen, known as interahamwe, as well as rebels trying to oust Museveni.
Kikwete underscored the importance both countries place on the security of their western borders.
"It is a matter of concern to them, and certainly they would really like to see it addressed," he said. "This aspect is going to be addressed properly and seriously."
Kabila's refusal to meet face-to-face with the rebels had been a stumbling block in arranging any kind of meaningful negotiations, but the communique welcomed his recent change of heart.
Zambian President Frederick Chiluba and Mkapa, under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community, have been trying to arrange talks between the two sides.
The communique also took note of a peace agreement signed last month by Museveni, Kabila, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi in the Libyan city of Sirte.
Ugandan officials had attempted to play down Museveni's role in that meeting.
Kabila took power in May 1997 at the head of a rebellion backed by Rwanda and Uganda that ousted Mobutu Sese Seko, who had ruled what was then Zaire for 32 years.
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material |
