European ministers promote Lusaka accord

British Secretary of State for International Development Clare Short and her Dutch and Norwegian counterparts, Eveline Herfkens and Hilde Frafjord, have called for the full implementation of the Lusaka peace accord for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). "We have come to try to drive forward the Lusaka peace process... and we want to engage our countries and any influence we’ve got in just pushing everybody to implement Lusaka. That’s why we’re here," said Short on Rwandan Radio on Thursday. "We have all agreed to stick to Lusaka without any amendments," AFP quoted her as telling reporters in Uganda on behalf of her counterparts. The three ministers are on a four-day visit to the Great Lakes region, covering DRC, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, to champion peace in the conflict-ridden region, and to assess development needs. Following a closed-door meeting with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday, the trio addressed a press conference in which they hailed Uganda for "striving to bring peace to the region", the government-owned newspaper The New Vision reported. "There was a time when we wondered why Uganda had troops deep inside the Congo, but things have changed since. His excellency here has ably explained the situation to us. We applaud Uganda for making the first move to implement the Lusaka accord," The New Vision quoted Short as saying. Referring to Uganda’s partial withdrawal of its troops from eastern DRC, the paper quoted Frafjord as saying: "This is a window of opportunity for African leaders to help end crises on this potentially rich continent. Uganda should be commended for making such bold steps." This tour closely follows last month’s visit to the same region by British Secretary of State Jack Straw, and his French counterpart, Hubert Vedrine, and is part of a wider diplomatic bid to push the peace process in the DRC forward. The long-awaited inter-Congolese peace and reconciliation dialogue will be held in Sun City, South Africa, beginning on 25 February.