Harare unhappy with DRC draft peace plan

Peace talks in Zambia this week on a comprehensive accord to end the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are still a “long way from an agreement”, analysts in Zimbabwe told IRIN. “There is a lot of talking to do before we get a formula,” one regional security source close to the Zimbabwean government said on Tuesday. “This is the beginning of a process.” The analyst said that progress had been made in achieving a workable solution through behind-the-scenes shuttle diplomacy, but following a high-level meeting earlier this month between South Africa, Rwanda and Uganda, “a lot of new items were thrown into the wash and essentially we are starting again.” DRC government and allied officials negotiating a draft peace plan in Lusaka last week “felt they were being railroaded,” the Harare-based source said. As a result, the current proposals being discussed by regional foreign and defence ministers includes several contentious issues holding up the talks, the analyst added. Among them are plans for the rebel forces to retain control of the territory they currently occupy as part of a troop standstill. “We would not agree to partition the country,” the Harare-based source said. “A standstill is also not good enough, it is in no one’s interests except those bordering the DRC. Troops are pouring across the Rwandan border for obvious reasons - if there is going to be a troop standstill they (Kigali) want to gain as much territory as they can.” Hurdles also include the timing of the withdrawal of foreign forces, the formation of a new integrated national army, and the post-war democratisation process. The analyst noted that earlier proposals had delinked the external agreement over a ceasefire and troop withdrawals from a domestic political accord. “Each successive draft seems to favour (DRC President Laurent-Desire) Kabila less and less,” Richard Cornwell of the South African Institute of Security Studies told IRIN on Tuesday.