Kinshasa meeting to include groups from rebel areas

Representatives of Congolese civil society and religious groups from government- and rebel-held provinces have started arriving in Kinshasa to discuss how to advance implementation of the Lusaka ceasefire agreement, a workshop organiser told IRIN on Wednesday. Some 220 participants from all 11 provinces and the capital are expected to participate in the five-day meeting starting on Monday. It will explore civil society's role and position in the proposed inter-Congolese negotiations, national reconciliation, the resettlement of displaced persons, the maintenance of security and the demobilisation of child soldiers, among other topics. "It's time to forget our differences and unite for peace" said Reverend Ngoy Mulunda-Nyanga of the Nairobi-based All-Africa Council of Churches (AACC), which is funding the event. "We want to see how we at the grassroots can best ensure the success of the agreement." "The rebels wanted the workshop to be held in Nairobi, not Kinshasa, but people said no, we are all children of the Congo and we want to show symbolically the unity of the country," he said. The Lusaka agreement allows for the free movement of people throughout the country, Mulunda-Nyanga said, adding that participants travelling from rebel-held areas were nevertheless "conscious they could be arrested" upon their return home.