Rebels agree to sign peace agreement

The long-awaited signing of the Lusaka ceasefire agreement by rebels of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD)was on Tuesday reported to be imminent after the RCD-Goma faction said it intended to sign. All the founding members of the RCD - covering both factions currently antagonistic towards each other - are expected to sign in a breakthrough arrangement agreed at the Southern African Development Community (SADC)summit in the Mozambican capital Maputo last week, news agencies reported. The development had been previously flagged, with some sources suggesting it could be signed as early as Monday. "We have accepted the proposal following the meeting of founding members on Monday night'', the Rwandan News Agency (RNA) on Tuesday quoted RCD-Goma official Bizima Karaha as saying. "We prefer to sign as a group instead of one person as initially proposed", he added. The next step, he said, was to suggest to the mediator, Zambian President Frederick Chiluba, a proposal on when and where the signing could take place. Karaha told RNA the faction had been convinced to sign by the visiting South African Foreign Minister, Nkosazana Zuma, and the Rwandan minister in the President's Office, Patrick Mazimhaka, who met the rebels in Goma, eastern DRC, on Sunday and Monday. RCD-Kisangani faction leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba had earlier indicated, in a statement received by IRIN, his intention to sign the accord. Museveni says there was no battle for control of Kisangani Last week's clashes between the Uganda People's Defence Forces and the Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA) could not be considered a battle for control of the town because the UPDF had not committed its troops and weaponry from Bangoka airport in the town into an offensive, according to Ugandan President and Commander-in-Chief Yoweri Museveni, in a letter to the semi- official 'New Vision' newspaper. Ruling out "control of Kisangani in a military sense", Museveni said there were four possible reasons for the street battles: "wanting to dominate political mobilisation in the city; economic reasons by controlling the banks; the desire to assassinate Wamba; or confused egoistic reasons". The Ugandan president said the UPDF had been deployed in Kisangani to protect Wamba and to guarantee a verification exercise by the Zambian and South African foreign ministers as part of the Lusaka peace process, and that the fighting had started as an attempt to stop the verification exercise. The clashes could have erupted into an all-out battle but "fortunately Major General (Paul) Kagame and myself established a joint command post at Mweya on 16 and 17 August and stopped that possible tragic evolution", Museveni added. Burundi troops supported Rwanda in Kisangani clashes Claims by Uganda and RCD-Kisangani that Burundi had some 4,000 troops in Kisangani and that they had supported Rwanda in last week's fighting were on Tuesday confirmed by IRIN sources in Kisangani. Burundi has repeatedly denied that it was a combatant in DRC, insisting that it was merely protecting its own security interests. Residents, meanwhile, reported that the town was quiet, with civilians moving about their business, after last week's fierce fighting, and that the Rwandan and Ugandan forces involved in those clashes were again talking and drinking together. Uganda had control of the main airport while Rwanda retained control of the smaller second airport, they added. ICG report warns tension could further destabilise region A new report by the influential International Crisis Group think tank has warned that the current high level of tension between Uganda and Rwanda is likely to affect the geopolitical order of the region. "It could lead to further fragmentation and a 'de facto' partition of the DRC, with each army occupying a sector and a very volatile military situation," the report, entitled The Agreement on a Ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo, noted. The report said that if Ugandan troops remain in the north, Rwanda may be tempted to concentrate its efforts on Mbuji-Mayi. It could also convince Uganda to give up and withdraw, leaving Rwanda alone facing accusations of aggression. "Last but not least, anti-Rwanda feelings are already growing in the Ugandan army, even though government officials in both countries have played down the impact of the Kisangani clash," the report said, adding: "The Ugandans have lost a lot of soldiers in the battle and some of their strongholds have been taken by the Rwandans, which is perceived as a humiliation by the UDPF." The report maintains that the DRC conflicts has three dimensions - local, national and regional - and calls on the international community to take the current peace deal as an opportunity to reengage with the region, to demonstrate a commitment to African peace processes and to rebuild credibility with national partners in central, eastern and southern Africa. For full report see http://www.intl-crisis-group.org