Low-key SADC summit closes

Leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) ended a low key summit in the Mozambican capital, Maputo this week without announcing any new initiatives on the conflicts in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), officials said. According to media reports from Maputo on Thursday, heads of state attending the summit said that they had "received new commitments from the Ugandan and Rwandan governments" on the DRC conflict. The reports said the two countries, which have been supporting the rebels in the conflict, had pledged to abide by the terms of the ceasefire they signed in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, last month. Meanwhile, DRC President Laurent-Desire Kabila left Maputo on the eve of the summit on Tuesday, citing "pressing problems at home" as the reason behind his decision. Prior to his departure Kabila held talks with the heads of state from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola, all of whom are backing his government in the war against the rebels. SADC leaders also agreed that the community would extend non military aid to the Angolan government. According to news reports, Angolan President Jose Euduardo Dos Santos had earlier on Wednesday requested SADC's help in its fight against the UNITA rebel movement. Although the conflicts in the DRC and Angola dominated proceedings, the recent political upheaval in the Caprivi strip in Namibia was also discussed. Attention was also given to economic conditions in the region, especially the slow pace of economic growth and the impact that debt was having on SADC countries. One of the special guests at the conference was Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who called for deeper and wider co operation between SADC and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Obasanjo called for closer co-operation between the two organisations in the field of conflict resolution. He added that institutional links between the two could be on of the first steps in achieving a closer relationship.