SA President pleased with new Congolese leader

South African President Thabo Mbeki has given the new leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Joseph Kabila, an initial seal of approval, 'The Star' newspaper reported on Thursday. Diplomats were quoted as saying that Mbeki hoped Kabila's first week in office had persuaded the rebel Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC) to consider signing a South Africa-brokered disengagement plan. Mbeki is not prepared to condemn Uganda and Rwanda as "aggressors", as Kabila's government would like, the report said. "Rather than use the word 'aggression', South Africa accepts that there are foreign countries' troops in the DRC, some invited and some not, and for the benefit of the DRC, foreign troops must be moved out of the country," South African ambassador to Kinshasa, Sisa Ngombane, was quoted as saying on Wednesday.