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

To: john mcknight who wrote (2052)	9/8/1998 10:09:00 AM
From: David Rowe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2378

Some Better News off the wire this AM Regards Dave ders Broker Congo Peace Deal By Buchizya Mseteka VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Negotiators between the warring parties in Laurent Kabila's Democratic Republic of the Congo said Monday they had brokered a peace agreement involving a ceasefire and troop standstill. Talks chairman President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia told reporters after marathon talks that the parties would sign the deal at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. ''We had a very good meeting (among the heads of state),'' Chiluba said. ''All of us agreed what must happen in the Congo.'' One of the negotiators told Reuters the draft agreement proposes an immediate ceasefire and a troop standstill, then further talks to reach a more lasting settlement. Chiluba's meeting with the heads of state followed separate negotiations with the rebel delegation, which was excluded from meeting face-to-face with the heads of state. Earlier indications had been that Kabila, his allies Presidents Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Sam Nujoma of Namibia and Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola, had disagreed with the rebel supporters -- President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and his Rwandan counterpart Pasteur Bizimungu. The leader of the rebel delegation, Arthur Z'Ahidi Ngoma, deputy president of the Congolese Democratic Coalition, had said after talking with Chiluba that he wasn't hopeful for a deal. On the battlefront there were no signs of fighting abating. Rebels in Goma, in the east of the country, said on Monday that government forces retreating from three eastern towns had killed at least 264 people, the majority ethnic Tutsi civilians. Lundu Bululu, a senior member of the rebel movement, said his troops had found the bodies in Kalemie, Vyura and Kisangani. He gave reporters a detailed list of the casualties, adding that rebel troops were among the casualties. At the summit, African leaders had kept the rebel delegation at arms length for much of Monday before Chiluba achieved a breakthrough. The talks, between the rebel delegation, Chiluba and Organisation of African Unity secretary-general Salim Ahmed Salim, appeared to have saved the meeting at Victoria Falls from breakdown. One summit source said Rwanda had initially threatened to walk out if the rebels were not admitted and Angolan President Dos Santos had threatened to quit if they were. ''The position of the summit, which was pushed by Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia, is that the rebels should not be allowed to join the talks, but could hold consultations on the sidelines of the summit,'' the summit source told Reuters. ''We need to hear their side of the story because we cannot negotiate in a vacuum,'' Chiluba told Reuters before meeting the rebel team. Earlier on Monday, chief rebel negotiator Ngoma had complained to Reuters that his team was being kept in a remote hotel room without even a telephone. The talks were the first to gather Kabila and his allies in the same location as the rebels and their backers, Uganda and Rwanda. The rebellion started on August 2. Kabila accuses Uganda and Rwanda of sponsoring a Tutsi-led rebellion against his government, which took power 16 months ago after defeating dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Mugabe cleared the way for the meeting during a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Durban last week at which South African President Nelson Mandela dropped his objection to the military intervention on Kabila's behalf. Zimbabwe and Angola have sent troops to support Kabila. Meanwhile Earnest Wamba dia Wamba, political leader of the rebels, told Reuters from the rebel headquarters in the eastern town of Goma on Monday that the government or its allies had bombed two rebel-held towns. He said the bombs had missed their target in Kalemie, about 500 km (310 miles) south of Goma, falling into Lake Tanganyika. Kabila's forces, backed by Angola and Zimbabwe, have broken the back of the rebel assault to the west of Kinshasa and have stepped up the pressure on the rebels' eastern stronghold. In Goma, Bululu said rebel forces were on the outskirts of the strategic town of Kindu, the site of one of the last major airports in the northeast still held by Kabila's troops. Kindu is strategically placed on the Lualaba River -- which feeds the Congo River -- between Goma and Kisangani, which fell to the rebels last month. In the northeast, rebels are moving to consolidate gains, advancing toward Banalia, about 120 km (75 miles) north of Kisangani, Wamba said. National moreWorld Business Sports Lifestyle Internet Fran‡ais On This Day Weather Horoscope Lotteries Discussions