Support for army depends on power-sharing, says Belgian minister

Belgian Defence Minister Andre Flahaut said on Thursday that his country's support for the formation of a unified national army in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) depended on the implementation of the power-sharing accord signed on 17 December 2002.

"The Pretoria accord has to be implemented in order for cooperation to be fully effective," he said, adding that he would present assistance proposals to his colleagues in Belgium for analysis.

The four-day trip to the DRC allowed Flahaut to meet President Joseph Kabila, as well as the leaders of the country's two main rebel groups - Jean-Pierre Bemba of the Mouvement de liberation du Congo and Adolphe Onusumba of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie.

"I think that it is important for the DRC to have an army of the right dimensions, that is not excessively large, and with soldiers who are professional, well-trained, and who respect the rules of humanitarian rights and human rights," he told IRIN, stressing the importance of demobilising child soldiers.

Flahaut said that Belgium had no intention of sending troops to the DRC. The military assistance would initially consist of training, which would include Congolese officers travelling to Belgium.

Having witnessed the dilapidation of the Ecole de formation des officiers in Kananga and the Ecole de pilotage in Kamina, he also promised to provide assistance to rehabilitate them.