Kabila, Mugabe plan joint strategy

DRC President Laurent-Desire Kabila and Mugabe held talks in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, on Wednesday for a second day to prepare a joint strategy for the Lusaka summit, news agencies reported. After meeting Kabila on Tuesday, Mugabe told journalists he would only sign a “practical” ceasefire declaration. “We want a ceasefire that has meaning,” Mugabe said. There were unconfirmed reports that Ernest Wamba dia Wamba of the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD)-Kisangani faction had also met Kabila in Harare on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba, told IRIN he was “not optimistic” about the outcome of the Lusaka ceasefire talks. “Our forces have come under severe fire by the Rwandans,” Charamba said, adding “I don’t think there is a peace disposition on the part of Rwanda.”