Peace talks suspended; to move to Durban, South Africa

The inter-Congolese peace and reconciliation dialogue currently taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, will be suspended and relocated to South Africa, the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has indicated. "Leaders of delegations who met the facilitator [former Botswanan president Ketumile Masire] agreed that the dialogue could resume in South Africa in a month's time," according to a communique. A spokeswoman for the government delegation at the talks told IRIN that Durban was the most likely venue for the talks. Pretoria had earlier offered to help with the cost, paying for accommodation and transport. Telecommunications links are far superior in South Africa, from where televised sessions of the meetings could be relayed to the DRC. Rebels, opposition political parties and civil society delegates have previously stated that they would be willing to go to South Africa, with only the government rejecting the option. The government's decision to move to South Africa is a concession made under heavy pressure. Previously, Kinshasa had insisted that Pretoria was not neutral in the DRC war. The Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) armed opposition movement welcomed the agreement by the DRC government. RCD-Goma's Secretary-General Azarias Ruberwa said that since there were only enough funds available at present to continue the dialogue in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for one or two weeks, and since the dialogue could not start in South Africa within a month, an interruption of the talks was a 'fait accompli'. Masire congratulated the Congolese parties for agreeing to continue with the dialogue, allaying fears that the talks might break down. "I commend the different sides, who have all made important concessions," he said. However, another armed opposition group, the Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo (MLC), has rejected the proposal of interrupting the dialogue by up to three weeks. "It's impossible for us to accept that proposal," Dominique Kanku, an MLC spokesman, said. "That will break the dynamic of the dialogue and you will have thousands of problems between here and Durban." The government has insisted that the meeting can only deal with procedural issues - mainly the question of participation of the Ugandan-backed splinter rebel group, the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Kisangani), the Congolese Mayi-Mayi militias, and certain civil society organisations - until the meeting has expanded from 80 to 330 delegates, as envisaged earlier. Only 80 have been invited thus far, owing to a lack of funds. One of the organisers said the facilitator would only have enough money for two weeks' dialogue in Addis Ababa, instead of the six weeks scheduled. Sources revealed that Masire has received all donor pledges for the dialogue, except recent additional pledges by the US (which has already contributed US $1 million), Finland, DRC, Libya, Zambia and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). A contribution from the UK was only received at around 5 pm on Wednesday.