Sun City not a done deal, Kabila tells UN

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila told the visiting United Nations Security Council delegation on Tuesday that he was willing to include the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) in current negotiations between his government and the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) over the details of the Sun City accord.

"What happened at Sun City is not a done deal," UK Ambassador to the UN Jeremy Greenstock told reporters in Kinshasa. "He [Kabila] is prepared to bring the RCD in on a deal which is being thrashed out with the MLC."

Greenstock said the UN delegation was focused on three interlocking issues: the recently concluded inter-Congolese dialogue (ICD) in Sun City, South Africa; the withdrawal of foreign troops from the DRC; and the demobilisation and disarmament of armed groups.

On the triangle of issues, Greenstock said the details of the ICD were not the primary concern of the security council, but rather that the delegation was "looking for a result from the dialogue, because without it there can't be a proper withdrawal of foreign forces". He said that Kabila was pursuing the non-military option, as was demonstrated by the departure from the DRC of some 12,000 to 13,000 allied troops (Angolans, Namibians and Zimbabweans) since Kabila succeeded his father, the late Laurent-Desire Kabila, following the elder's assassination in January 2001.

Asked about Kinshasa's support of armed groups in eastern DRC, however, Greenstock said Kabila "wasn't absolutely sure" whether supplies were still being sent by his government to the Rwandan ex-FAR and Interahamwe (Forces Armees Rwandaises, the exiled army, and Hutu militias, both key culprits in Rwanda's 1994 genocide) and the Burundian Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD, one of two main ethnic Hutu rebel groups opposing Burundi's transitional government). However, Greenstock said that Kabila was "quite clearly choosing the non-military track".

The disarmament of the ex-FAR and Interahamwe would give confidence to Rwanda that there was no longer a security threat along their border with the DRC, Greenstock said, and that "in order to get the disarmament going, there needs to be a realisation in Kinshasa that it's not in their interests to support them".

"President Kabila has given three times assurances that military support for armed groups in the east, particularly to the Interahamwe, will stop," Greenstock said. "We had an assurance from the president today that supplies to those armed groups will stop. That's something we're going to put to Kigali."

"Connected with that is the need for RCD-Goma to realise that the motivation for military action is going to recede, and therefore they'd better come to a deal while they can."

When the delegation visits the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on 6 May, Greenstock said its focus would be on the need for the Rwandan government to join the peace process. "The rebel factions won't join an agreement if their allies don't see it as being in their interests."

As for any aid to the FDD, the FDD on Congolese soil was "falling apart and losing its military capability", Greenstock said. "I'm convinced that president Kabila intends to stop supplies to them as well."

As for concerns that exclusion of the RCD from the Sun City agreement could lead to a return to violence, Greenstock cited recent fighting in Moliro as evidence that "people have retained the military option". However, he warned that the security council would be "much more angrily reactive if any party returns to the use of force".

The UN Security Council delegation, in the northeastern DRC city of Kisangani on Wednesday, is scheduled to travel to Angola on Thursday, to meet with President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and the Political Committee of the Lusaka ceasefire agreement. On Friday, the team will be in Uganda, to meet with President Yoweri Museveni and MLC leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, who will serve as prime minister in the DRC's new political order. On Saturday, the mission will be in Tanzania to meet President Benjamin Mkapa. On Sunday, it will be in Burundi, to meet with President Pierre Buyoya, Vice President Domitien Ndayizeye and the presidents of the Senate and National Assembly. Monday will be spent in Rwanda, to meet with President Paul Kagame and Rwandan authorities. A meeting will also be held with a delegation of Rwandan former armed groups. On Tuesday, the team is due to return to UN headquarters in New York City.