"Understanding" reached on peace pact, Kabila and Kagame must now approve

DRC-RWANDA: "Understanding" reached on peace pact, Kabila and Kagame must now approve

Five days of negotiations in Pretoria under the mediation of South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma have resulted in an "understanding" being reached between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighbouring Rwanda, Zuma's office announced on Monday.

"The negotiations were centred around the withdrawal of the Rwandan forces from the DRC, and the disarming and dismantling of the Ex-FAR (former Rwandan armed forces) and the Interahamwe [Rwandan Hutu militias] forces currently stationed in the DRC," a statement from Zuma's office said.

The statement added that the negotiators would now brief their Kinshasa and Kigali governments "with a view to eventual finalisation of the discussions and signing of agreements".

However, Zuma told a news conference upon conclusion of the talks that "there is no reason why there should be any doubt that the principals should accept the agreement".

Zuma said the discussions had not been easy, and expressed satisfaction that the parties had been able to come to an understanding, the South African SAPA news agency reported. "We were able to reach the point where we are because there is a clear commitment on both sides to succeed and bring about a final settlement," SAPA quoted Zuma as saying.

The DRC's delegation to the Pretoria talks was headed by the minister in the Office of the Presidency, Mwake Katumba, and that of Rwanda by Katumba's counterpart, Patrick Mazimhaka.

Mazimhaka told the news conference that the agreement met the requirements for taking forward a difficult process, according to SAPA. "We have no doubt that if we can diligently execute this broad agreement we shall bring to an end this conflict that has been engulfing our countries for several years sooner rather than later," SAPA quoted Mazimhaka as saying.

The DRC ambassador to South Africa, Bene M'Poko, was quoted by Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir as telling the news conference that "this is the beginning of the end of the war in the Congo".

A date for the signing of a final agreement has yet to be set.

The talks, which began on 18 July and had been scheduled to last only one day, were a continuation of discussions held two weeks ago in Durban, South Africa, between presidents Joseph Kabila of the DRC and Paul Kagame of Rwanda, on the sidelines of the inaugural summit of the African Union. Central to those discussions - brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki - was the proposal to create a security zone along the DRC/Rwanda border to prevent Hutu rebel incursions into Rwanda.