Wamba hails accord

Ernest Wamba dia Wamba who leads a faction of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) in Kisangani described the agreement as a "very good thing". "We hope all the parties will sign the agreement in good faith so that its implementation will not pose a problem," he told IRIN in a telephone interview on Thursday. "We believe that those who want to pursue the war will now be more and more in the minority." He said his group had participated at all levels of the Lusaka negotiations, including the ministerial meeting. It was important the three rebel groups each be signatories to the accord so that there would be "no confusion" when it came to implementation on the ground. "Bemba's group [the Mouvement de liberation congolais] agrees with that," Wamba said. "But the [RCD] Goma group has demands that we don't understand." Wamba also denied reports of large-scale defections to Goma from his group. "They are still in Kisangani," he said.