Rebels reportedly ready to sign Lusaka accord

Rebels of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) were on Monday reported to be ready to sign up to the Lusaka ceasefire agreement under a complicated arrangement aimed at overcoming the sticking point of whether the RCD-Goma or RCD Kisangani factions, or both, would represent the movement. Political sources contacted by IRIN on Monday said that after renewed talks at the weekend between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwandan Vice-President Paul Kagame, and a meeting between both men and South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma, the indications from Kampala were that there would be 51 RCD signatories, comprising the general assemblies of both RCD factions. The signing was virtually confirmed and would take place soon - if not perhaps as early as Monday, as rumoured, IRIN sources added. Regional observers were sceptical about the arrangement, not only because it was so cumbersome in itself but also because it raised so many issues in terms of how to manage military aspects of implementation, representation at negotiations and the make up of the Joint Military Command (JMC) mandated with supervising the ceasefire. It might be that Museveni and Kagame had agreed between themselves such issues as the designates to the JMC, but could also be that they had been pressured into securing the rebels' signatures and left the modalities to later diplomatic initiatives, IRIN sources suggested. In that event, implementation was set to be at least as difficult as the fraught process of securing the signatures, they added. Kisangani faction says Wamba will sign RCD-Kisangani leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba has travelled to Lusaka to sign the ceasefire accord, a press release from the faction stated. Wamba was also stated to be concerned that "Goma and Kigali might launch another violent offensive" in Kisangani before the accord could be signed, and urged regional leaders and the international community to see that last Tuesday's ceasefire was respected. RCD-Goma hints at signature "by the end of the month" Tamba Wamba, political spokesman for the RCD-Goma faction, said on Saturday it was fully committed to the Lusaka agreement and that he believed the group would sign the accord "by the end of this month", Gabonese radio reported. RCD-Goma would sign when the obstacle concerning Wamba dia Wamba's signature had been removed, and the situation was "heading towards the removal of this obstacle", he added. Kinshasa rejects Bizimungu talks offer The DRC government has confirmed receiving an invitation from Rwanda to talks in Kigali, but said it would not attend until Rwanda had withdrawn its forces from Congolese territory. Foreign Minister Yerodia Abdoulaye Ndombasi told Congolese television that Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu had extended the invitation to him during a lengthy discussion at last week's Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Mozambique. He said he would have no difficulty going there if requested to do so by DRC President Laurent Desire Kabila and if it was for "the cause of peace and withdrawal", but that it could not happen while Rwandan forces occupied parts of Congo. Twenty five countries pledge officers for UN liaison mission The military liaison officers needed for the UN team to be deployed to support the Lusaka peace accord have been pledged by 25 countries, Assistant Secretary-General for Peace-Keeping Operations Hedi Annabi said on Friday. The UN deployment of up to 90 military and civilian observers, for up to 3 months initially, will be of four types: deployment to capital cities in the area, but initially Kinshasa, Kigali and Kampala; to the Joint Military Commission; to the rear military headquarters of the belligerents as security permits; and to other locations within DRC as appropriate, according to IRIN sources. A budget has been proposed for the preliminary deployment of 90 observers, including 11 humanitarian affairs officers, with special attention being paid to human rights, child soldiers and other humanitarian issues considered crucial to the viability of any peace established, according to IRIN sources. Humanitarian officers would be deployed to Kinshasa, Lusaka, Kigali, Kampala, Bujumbura and key locations within the DRC, they said, adding that the budget proposal included a humanitarian emergency fund of US$ 500,000. WHO "amazed at turnout" for vaccination campaign WHO and UNICEF reported that 8.2 million polio vaccinations were carried out by over 75,000 volunteer vaccinators during last week's mass vaccination against the polio virus, and the figure should be closer to 9 million once complete data were available, officials said. Some 10 million children under the age of five had been targeted. "We have been amazed at the turnout. Mothers in every village have brought their children ... often walking several kilometres with their infants on their backs to get this precious vaccine", a WHO press release stated. DRC, with the most intense virus transmission in the world, was the single biggest priority for the global effort to eradicate polio, it added. "Catch-up" campaign scheduled for Kisangani In Kisangani, 70 percent were reported to have been vaccinated, despite the outbreak of fighting between Rwandan and Ugandan forces, while mothers and children earlier trapped in vaccination clinics by the fighting had managed to return home, WHO reported, adding that an extra "catch-up" campaign targeting those children not yet reached was scheduled.