Rebels reject revision of Lusaka accord

Last week the Joint Military Commission’s (JMC) political committee - that brings together all the signatories to the Lusaka agreement - blamed the DRC government for deliberately undermining and obstructing the implementation of the accord by refusing to allow the deployment of UN troops and rejecting the facilitator of the inter-Congolese dialogue, Ketumile Masire. A diplomatic source told IRIN that a Congolese government representative at the political committee meeting requested a revision of the Lusaka agreement. “The request was however rejected by the Congolese rebels who reiterated their support for the facilitator and the Lusaka agreement as a whole,” the source said. Meanwhile, a meeting between President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia, who facilitated the signing of the Lusaka agreement last year, and DRC President Kabila will be held in Namibia on sidelines of a Southern Africa Development Cooperation summit (SADC) this week.