Government in informal talks with rebel groups

Informal talks aimed at hammering out a power-sharing deal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) opened on Saturday in Pretoria, South Africa, between the DRC government and two of the country's main rebel groups. The talks between President Joseph Kabila's government, the Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo (MLC), and the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) are expected to continue this week until an agreement on transitional political arrangements is reached. The government delegation and the Rwanda-backed RCD-Goma reportedly favour a proposal tabled by South Africa that would allow Kabila to remain in office with four vice-presidents until elections in two years' time. The MLC, by contrast, wants two vice-presidents, one of them to be its own leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba. AFP reported on Friday from Pretoria that smaller rebel movements, the Mayi-Mayi militia, politicians from 12 opposition parties and members of civil society would join the talks next week. Once transitional arrangements for the country emerged from the talks, the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, chaired by its facilitator, Ketumile Masire, would formally endorse them the UN said on Friday. The negotiations are being brokered by the UN Special Envoy to the DRC, Moustapha Niasse, and South African President Thabo Mbeki, with the support of the African Union and the South African government. In a separate development, the Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Antoanella Motoc, has expressed concern over the increase of human rights violations during the withdrawal of foreign forces from DRC territory. On Friday, she condemned the resumption of armed conflict in the east of the country, which, she said, had resulted in massive violations as well as the deterioration of the humanitarian situation.