Text:
http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/world/112898/world26_62.html
Congo cease-fire obtained;
however, rebel leaders not
present at meeting
Copyright © 1998 Nando Media
Copyright © 1998 The Associated Press
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PARIS (November 28, 1998 5:45 p.m. EST
http://www.nandotimes.com) -- Nations fighting in Congo agreed to a cease-fire Saturday, striking a shaky consensus to stop the war between rebels and forces loyal to Congo's President Laurent Kabila.
But rebel leaders in Congo were not present at Saturday's meeting, raising doubts about how a cease-fire could be put into effect without their consent.
French President Jaques Chirac told reporters attending the final day of a summit of African leaders in Paris that Uganda, Rwanda and Congo had agreed to end fighting in a war that has raised fears of an all-out regional conflagration.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan presided at a two-hour meeting of officials, including Kabila and the leaders of Uganda and Rwanda, who are supporting the insurgency. The heads of Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso also took part.
Chirac said the meeting had been "held in a tense but not hostile environment."
He did not refer to whether the rebels in Congo had been consulted, or what their position now would be. A rebel leader, Arthur Ngoma, was scheduled to attend the summit as an observer, but he could not immediately be reached for comment.
Though no rebel leaders were available, rebel ground troops in Congo said Saturday that the war would continue despite the Paris agreement.
Chirac said Kabila had agreed to democratic reforms and the need to establish dialogue. "Every party has made progress toward a greater rapprochement," he said.
Brokered by Annan, the cease-fire was to be signed sometime before a meeting of the Organization of African Unity on December 17-18, Chirac said.
"The secretary general has achieved an agreement for the reaffirmation of the commitment to put an end to this absurd and painful war," Chirac said.
Kabila came to power in May 1997 after toppling longtime Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. He promised reform and democracy in his renamed Democratic Republic of Congo, but many critics say his regime's 18 months in power has seen repressive policies and a growing intolerance of criticism.
Disaffected members of his armed forces banded together with ethnic Tutsi insurgents earlier this year and launched a rebellion, accusing the president of corruption, nepotism and tribalism.
At a noisy meeting with thousands of Congolese at a Paris hotel later Saturday, Kabila said Uganda and Rwanda should be forced to withdraw their support of the rebel insurgency.
"We want to pressure public opinion in France and everywhere so that this meeting will weigh heavily on the leaders of those countries," Kabila told the boisterous audience, some of whom banged drums and waved national flags.
Kabila has demanded that Rwanda and Uganda withdraw their troops and leave Congo. Both countries claim they have legitimate security interests there and say they will stay as long as Congo remains a threat.
Kabila said 30,000 Rwandan and Ugandan troops were currently in Congo, and he emphasized that no agreement had yet been signed.
In an interview with France Info radio, however, Kabila said: "We will add our signature," to the agreement.
"But if they (the rebels) attack, if they advance, then we will have to continue to defend ourselves," he warned in the radio interview, adding that the cease -fire would only take hold if the rebels leave Congo.
Until the summit, Kabila had spurned attempts to arrange talks with rebels or neighboring countries involved in the 4-month-old conflict. Namibia, Zimbabwe and Angola are supporting Kabila against the rebels, who have the backing of Rwanda and Uganda.
At the front line in Congo, rebel troops said Saturday the war would go on regardless of events in Paris.
Standing over a bridge over the wide, chocolate-colored Congo River, a rebel commander, identified only by his first name Gabriel, refused to believe such a deal could be struck.
"Rwandans and Ugandans can agree upon whatever they want, but I am a Congolese and I have a war to fight," he said. "We have started this war to kick Kabila out. We shall finish it."
Kabila later met with Chirac at the Elysee Palace for a scheduled meeting that lasted 30 minutes.
Congo's war dominated the final day of a Paris summit of more than 40 African countries focusing on security concerns and ways to help the troubled continent achieve stability and economic growth.
By IAN PHILLIPS, Associated Press Writer