Alliance formed between rebels and opposition

The Rwandan-backed rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) has formed an alliance with five other political parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to fight attempts by President Joseph Kabila and the Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo (MLC) to form a new government, following an agreement made between them at the end of the inter-Congolese dialogue (ICD) last week.

The alliance, called Alliance pour la sauvegarde du dialogue inter-congolais (ASD) - to be headed by veteran politician Etienne Tshisekedi, leader of the Union pour la democratie et le progres social (UDPS) - has as its main objective the continuation of the ICD in Sun City, South Africa. Other objectives are the formation of a new consensual political order, the defence of the Lusaka Peace Accord and the establishment of the rule of law.

The ASD, which will be based in Kisangani, eastern DRC, brings together the UDPS, the Dynamique pour une transition neutre (DPTN), the Mouvement Lumumbiste progressiste (MLP), the Conseil de l'opposition congolaise externe de l'Amerique du Nord (COCEAN) and the Rassemblement pour une nouvelle societe (RNS).

RCD spokesman Kin Kiey Mulumba told IRIN on Friday that the alliance "is going to see everyone who can help us", including South African President Thabo Mbeki, diplomats and the members of the United Nations Security Council who will visiting South Africa next week, in order to apply diplomatic pressure on the government-MLC alliance to return to the negotiating table.

He said his message to the Security Council would be that the agreement between the government and MLC would be unable to bring peace to the DRC, and that all Congolese must unite to do so. "The dialogue is our last chance to bring peace to our country," he said.

Asked what would happen if the government-MLC forged ahead with their plans to form a government, which excludes the RCD, he said: "It will be something bad for our country. It [the new government] will not be able to respond to the problems in our country. It will lead to the partition of the Congo, which we do not want." He added, however, that the ASD was not going to fight a war with the government-MLC, saying "we are for peace".

A statement issued by the ASD on Friday described the government-MLC agreement - which would allow Kabila to remain president and instal MLC leader Jean-Pierre Bemba as prime minister - as "high treason" and "a grave manifestation of political irresponsibility".