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Gold/Mining/Energy : Starpoint Gold -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: john mcknight who wrote (2263)	8/24/1999 6:46:00 AM
From: john mcknight	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2378

From Reuters FOCUS-Congo rebels agree to sign peace accord By Jean-Baptiste Kayigamba KIGALI, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Congolese rebel leaders said on Tuesday they had agreed to sign a peace deal aimed at ending a year-old civil war that threatened to destabilise the entire region. Six African nations embroiled in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drew up a peace deal last month in the Zambian capital Lusaka but the rebels at first refused to sign because they could not agree on which of two rival factions led their movement. Hoping to break the deadlock, African leaders last week proposed that all founding members of the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) -- including leaders of both the warring factions -- be allowed to sign the Lusaka deal. That proposal was accepted by the largest faction after talks with South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma late on Monday. "We hope to go to Lusaka before the end of the week to sign the agreement," said Bizima Karaha, head of intelligence of the main rebel faction which is backed by Rwanda and led by medical doctor Emile Ilunga. "It is a good thing that we sign as a group instead of one person," he told Reuters. Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, who heads the rival RCD faction backed by Uganda, said he had agreed to the proposal several days ago and was also ready to go to Lusaka. "We can accept that," Wamba said. "If there are assurances that we are going to sign, we will go." Backed by Uganda and Rwanda, the rebels took up arms against Congolese President Laurent Kabila last August and have since seized large swathes of territory in the north and east of the vast central African nation. But the RCD spilt into two factions earlier this year -- one backed by Uganda, the other by Rwanda -- and those tensions exploded into violence in the rebel-held city of Kisangani 10 days ago. At least 200 people were killed as Ugandan and Rwandan forces battled for control of the city, a centre of Congo's lucrative diamond trade, before the two sides agreed a truce and pledged to rebuild their military alliance. Rwanda and Uganda both say they are committed to the Congo peace process and on Tuesday welcomed the breakthrough in persuading the rebel factions they support to sign the Lusaka deal. "This means the Lusaka peace accord is back on track," Patrick Mazimhaka, Rwanda's minister of state in the president's office, told Reuters. "This is a political arrangement that should help break the deadlock in the peace process." "I hope this is the last stumbling block towards the Lusaka agreement," said Hope Kivengere, spokeswoman for Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The Congo war has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes and pitted half a dozen African nations against each other with Uganda and Rwanda on one side and Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia sending troops to support Kabila. Under the Lusaka deal, all sides would halt their attacks and peacekeeping forces would be deployed to keep them apart and disarm several militia armies operating in the jungles of eastern Congo. ¸ 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.