Masire postpones inter-Congolese talks

The facilitator of the inter-Congolese dialogue, Ketumile Masire, on Wednesday postponed the preparatory talks which were being held in Cotonou, Benin "until such a time as full representation could be reached". Masire regretted that the DRC government "not only chose not to send a delegation to the Cotonou meeting, but also prevented other participants from leaving Kinshasa, confiscating their passports and tickets", a statement from his office said. "Ambassador [Kamel] Morjane, the special representative of the UN Secretary-General in the DRC, was ready to fly the participants to Cotonou, had he been given the necessary clearance to fly over the DRC airspace," it said. "The Secretary-General Kofi Annan himself, tried without success to persuade President Kabila to send his delegation and permit safe passage of the NGO parties," it added. According to the statement, despite intense pressure from all concerned, the only groups who were able to travel to Benin were members of the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC), and the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma), and representatives of the unarmedopposition and civil society from Kivu and Equateur. It said that in view of the gravity of the current situation in the DRC, the facilitator remained committed to ensuring that a second preparatory meeting was held. Masire's office told IRIN that a tentative date had been set for 3-7 July in Gaborone, Botswana.