Kabila, Kagame agree steps to end tensions

President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, agreed on Friday to take immediate steps to calm tension on their common border that has sparked fears of another war in the Great Lakes. After three hours of talks mediated by President Olusegun Obasanjo in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, both countries resolved to set up “a joint verification mechanism” to investigate activities on their frontiers and adhere to the terms of the 2002 peace agreement signed in Pretoria, South Africa. “We agreed to take measures to carry out verification to prove or disprove whatever may have been alleged," Kagame told journalists, referring to recent outbreaks of fighting in eastern DRC allegedly involving Rwandan militias. Rwanda has denied assisting the dissident forces and has asked that the African Union and United Nations send monitors into the region. No further details were given about the joint verification mechanism, though Kagame did reiterate his call for international assistance in the interests of finding a lasting solution. "The most important thing is to address the problems, we don't want a cosmetic solution," he said on behalf of the two presidents. A joint statement issued after the meeting and read by Nigerian Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adenji, said the two countries would collaborate to disarm and repatriate Rwandan militia groups in eastern DRC where fresh fighting broke out on 26 May. Rwandan dissident forces led by General Laurent Nkunda and Colonel Jules Mutebutsi claim to be fighting inside DRC to protect the minority Congolese Tutsis, known as the Banyamulenges, from atrocities committed by a military commander assigned to the region by the transitional government in Kinshasa. Relations between the two countries have again become tense, with Kabila accusing Kagame’s government of backing the dissident forces and began deploying 10,000 troops to the region. Kagame’s government perceived Kabila’s action as a threat of war. Obasanjo, who has been in regular contact with both presidents since the troubles began according to the statement, used his position as chairman of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council to assume the role of mediator. Rwanda, together with Uganda, backed Kabila’s father, Laurent Kabila, who led a rebel campaign against the government of Mobutu Sese Seko. However, after toppling Mobutu in 1997, DRC's former allies turned foe and backed rebel groups operating inside DRC against Kabila. Uganda later withdrew its troops, but Rwanda remained in positions in DRC until the signing of a July 2002 peace agreement signed by the younger Kabila, who succeeded his father following his assassination in 2001, and immediately set up a transitional unity government.