LUSAKA, Zambia (February 15, 2001 1:36 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - African rebels and government leaders opened a summit Thursday
to discuss ending the 2 1/2-year war in
Congo, but Rwanda refused to participate and diplomats said the
pullout could further delay a limping peace process.
There have been signs that the meeting of parties in the Congo
war -- of which Rwanda is key -- could be productive. But earlier
this week, Rwandan President Paul Kagame announced he would not
attend, saying Zambian President Frederick Chiluba is not an
impartial mediator in the Congo conflict.
Diplomats outside the talks expressed concern that the absence
of Rwanda, which backs some rebels and has its own troops in Congo,
could keep the talks from moving the peace process forward.
The Congolese have expressed renewed willingness to discuss
peace since Joseph Kabila became president last month following the
assassination of his father, Laurent. A top rebel leader said the
political will existed to make major progress at the summit, and
the United Nations said Monday that peacekeepers could be ready to
go to Congo within the next few weeks.
Then Kagame's security adviser, Emmanuel Ndahiro, said the
president would not attend the talks. Ndahiro criticized Chiluba
for allowing some 6,000 Congolese troops and allied Rwandan Hutu
militiamen to slip back into Congo from northern Zambia after
fleeing a Rwandan offensive last month.
And Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni did not attend the talks,
sending a Foreign Ministry official in his place.
In Washington, the State Department said Thursday that Kagame's
refusal to attend the summit "does not help move the process
forward."
However, it said, "while the Rwandans' actions are
disappointing, their failure to attend this one meeting is not a
major setback to the peace process provided the Rwandan government
resumes the dialogue at future meetings."
Congo's civil war was renewed in August 1998 when Laurent
Kabila's main sponsors, Uganda and Rwanda, turned against him and
began supporting an anti-government rebellion. He held onto power
and kept the rebels at bay with the help of Angola, Zimbabwe and
Namibia.
A cease-fire agreement was signed in 1999 by most of the
countries and rebel factions, but fighting persists, with all sides
accusing the others of violations.
But now, Joseph Kabila has pledged his commitment to the 1999
deal and the Congolese appear to accept a disputed Botswana
mediator for dialogue among Congo's political groups.
But Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, whose rebel faction is one of four
supported by Uganda in the war, said Thursday he believed Kabila
was sincere and that the summit would make significant progress.
"The political will is there to get things done," he said.
The riches of Congo are staggering: 65 percent of the world's
cobalt, the planet's second-largest reserves of industrial
diamonds, vast copper deposits. Blanketed with rain forests and
endless savannahs, its tourism potential alone is worth millions of
dollars a year.
Not that you could tell by looking around. The sprawling nation
is a disaster -- wrung out by corrupt rulers, carved up by warring
armies and filled with people just a few meals short of starvation.
Various rebel factions control nearly half the country.
The nation was originally formed in the late 19th century as the
personal property of Belgium's King Leopold II. After the country's
sudden independence in 1960 -- which quickly saw a secessionist
movement break out in mineral-rich Katanga -- dictator Mobutu Sese
Seko came to power. Eventually, Mobutu's regime dissolved around
him. Laurent Kabila took over.
Now his son is in power, and some have a cautious hope for
peace.
"Zambia is grateful to the positive attitude and signals coming
from the government," said Chiluba, who has mediated between the
warring parties. "I hope nobody will find an excuse to slow down
the peace process or the pace to resolve the remaining issues."
Since Laurent Kabila's death, Congo's allies have increased the
number of their soldiers in Congo.
Despite the troop increase, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
expressed hopes for peace.
"I think the time has come now to accelerate the pace," Mugabe
told journalists as he arrived Wednesday night.
