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Peace May Yet Elude Kabila's Congo
December 26, 1998
by Musengwa Kayaya
LUSAKA, Zambia (PANA) - Prospects for a ceasefire in the five- month-old civil
war in the Democratic Republic of Congo appear to be dwindling yet again.
This follows the announcement of the third postponement of the 28 December summit of regional leaders who were expected to help broker a peace agreement in that country's war between government troops and rebels of the Congolese Rally for Democracy (CRD).
The office of President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia announced Friday, in Lusaka, that the talks had been postponed to a date yet to be announced in the new year. It was to be attended by 11 other eastern, central and southern African heads of state to endorse ceasefire proposals hammered out by foreign and defence ministers of the participating states.
The statement from Chiluba's office quoted by Zambian radio Friday, merely said that the postponement was necessitated by the Christmas and new year festivities.
Chiluba, who is chief mediator and chairman of the southern Africa steering committee responsible for coordinating the diplomatic initiatives in the Congolese crisis, has had to postpone the summit on two previous occasions due to "commitments" by some of the parties involved.
However, some diplomatic and political observers in the Zambian capital attributed the apparent lack of momentum in the Congolese peace process to the perceived lack of consensus between Kabila's government and the rebels on how to proceed with the envisaged ceasefire.
Kabila himself has spurned suggestions of a " face-to-face" dialogue with the rebels, whom he has sought to portray as "pawns" being used by neighbouring Uganda and Rwanda to destabilise his government. Kampala and Kigali have both acknowledged aiding the rebel offensive in eastern Congo, saying they were safeguarding their own territorial integrity.
According to the analysts, it would be extremely difficult to hope to achieve a ceasefire as long as the two major protagonists do not sit on the same table to discuss the matter.
"Kabila will have himself to blame for prolonging the war with the rebels. Whether he likes it or not, they are major actors in this scenario (war)," said an African diplomat Friday on condition of anonymity.
Kabila's stance has been cited as the single major reason for the failure of previous peace initiatives at both the OAU, Nonaligned and regional summits in Cape Town, Victoria Falls and Mauritius.
DRC rebel leader, Ernest Wamba Dia Wamba, has himself also made it clear that his fighters would not abide by any ceasefire arranged and endorsed in their absence.
"The problem is Congolese, the people involved (in the war) are Congolese... No outsider can hope to resolve the impasse without our (rebels) participation," Dia Wamba was quoted at last November's SADC foreign and defence ministers meeting on Congo in Lusaka. The rebels attended that meeting by proxy.
Insiders have commended Chiluba's diplomacy in reconciling opposing views among Kabila's regional backers and those on the side of the rebels. The Zambian president is said to have prevailed on both Kabila and Mugabe, in particular, to accept full participation of the rebels in the peace process. Chiluba's view is also shared by South African President Nelson Mandela, who recently threatened to boycott any summit on Congo which did not involve the rebels.
Chiluba has been chosen to lead the peace initiative in the Congo because of his "neutrality" in the current crisis, acknowledged negotiating skills and Zambia's own proven commitment to the promotion of regional peace.
Lusaka has sent soldiers on peace missions to various African trouble spots and currently has men serving in Angola and Sierra Leone.
Chiluba himself earlier this week, indicated his determination to secure "round table peace" on the Congo crisis which, he said, was having an adverse effect on the lives and economies of the region and Africa as a whole.
"It was time Africans gave their countries a chance for peace and development. Dialogue should take centre stage as it was the ultimate solution to conflicts," Chiluba said in Lusaka when he addressed graduating senior army officers from several African countries.
Kabila, the rebels and their backers would do well to heed Chiluba's timely counsel to make peace a reality in the country in the new year.
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