Rebel movements "agree on need to reach agreement"

The three Congolese rebel movements that agreed on Monday to create a common political front for talks with the DRC government and to coordinate their military activities, have emphasised there is to be no merger of the three movements: the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) headed by Emile Ilunga, the RCD-ML (Mouvement de liberation) led by Ernest
Wamba dia Wamba and the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) of
Jean-Pierre Bemba.

RCD-ML official Sesanga Hipungu said it should be possible for the rebels to agree a common stand on the setting up of a national Congolese army and a vision for the DRC, but it was "out of the question to talk about any merger that would sweep away the existing movements," Radio France Internationale reported. "We all agreed on the need to reach agreements on
all these issues," Hipungu said. The three rebel movements were "afraid of going too fast towards merging" and wanted to retain their respective identities, an RCD official quoted by Agence France Presse stated. They had agreed to set up two working commissions, one on political and diplomatic issues and another on military concerns, but had yet to determine their composition and structure, news media reported on Tuesday.