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http://www.africanews.org/central/congo-kinshasa/stories/19990112_feat1.html
Congolese Rebels Prepared To Meet Kabila
January 12, 1999
By John Dludlu and Stephen Laufer
Johannesburg - The rebels fighting the government of the Democratic Republic of
Congo yesterday signalled their readiness to meet President Laurent Kabila in
any neutral country amid growing signs that Kabila was softening his stance on
his opponents.
Kabila, who is backed by Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia in his military campaign to thwart the rebels, first sent signals of a change of heart last week, when he said he was ready to meet the rebels, but only in Kinshasa. This offer was immediately rejected by his opponents.
However, Nzira Pimana, the spokesman for the Congolese Rally for Democracy, said yesterday the rebels were ready to meet Kabila at a neutral venue. This remark follows comments by Zambian President Frederick Chiluba that the rebels might take part in face to face talks with Kabila after the latter's expression of readiness to meet them.
Chiluba has been asked by the Southern African development Community to mediate between Kabila, and the rebels, who are backed by Rwanda and Uganda. Chiluba also announced at the weekend that a regional summit would be held in Lusaka, Zambia, on Saturday to thrash out a cease-fire for the Congo.
SA foreign affairs spokesman Adri Cronje said SA had received an official invitation to the talks from the Zambian government. Deputy President Thabo Mbeki is expected to attend.
It is envisaged the meeting would be preceded by a meeting of defence and foreign ministers. Delays in the expected arrival of Chiluba in Pretoria yesterday, after the postponement of his visit on Sunday, were connected by sources to difficulties in defining the exact status of the rebels during the talks.
Chiluba has been touring a number of countries involved in the Congolese conflict in search of a formula satisfactory to all sides. Though the rebels had not been officially notified of this weekend's meeting, Pimana expressed hope that the organisers of the meeting would not exclude the rebels.
Proximity talks, a system where the rebels do not participate directly in the
talks, but are nearby for consultation, had been exhausted, said Pimana. He
warned that such meetings would - as in the past - come to naught.
Jakkie Potgieter, a senior analyst at the Institute for Security Studies, said
Kabila's military allies in the conflict appeared to be creating room for him to
speak directly to the rebels - the route he has so far refused to travel.
Potgieter said two-stage negotiation appeared to be the path that was being
pursued.
Under this scenario, governments would meet first, without the rebels'
participation, and a follow-up all-inclusive meeting would then be held. With
Kabila's allies - notably Zimbabwe and Angola - facing internal problems,
Potgieter said now was the ideal opportunity for talks.
Although the Zimbabwean government has denied reports that about 20 military officers have been arrested for inciting colleagues to topple President Robert Mugabe, Potgieter said morale was low among Zimbabwean soldiers in the Congo. He said the Angolan government, which is facing a renewed escalation of attacks from Unita rebels, might have informed its allies in the Congo war of their intention to focus on the internal war against Jonas Savimbi, the Unita leader.
However, Potgieter was concerned at yesterday's reports, suggesting that Kabila had given himself authority over all facets of government. He said this smacked of an "embattled dictator" and could scupper the diplomatic efforts of resolving the conflict.
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