Informal peace talks begin in South Africa

Informal talks between members of the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) and opposition political parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) began on Wednesday in Cape Town, South Africa. The talks are being hosted by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Mbeki's spokesman, Bheki Khumalo, told IRIN on Thursday that all of the parties who participated in the inter-Congolese dialogue (ICD), were present in Cape Town with the exception of the government and the former rebel Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo (MLC). He stressed that the talks were informal and said their purpose was to "assist the peace process so it can resume". He added that it was essential that the formal ICD resume in order to obtain an inclusive power-sharing agreement, but that nobody knew when this could happen at this stage.

The RCD spokesman, Kin Kiey Mulumba, told IRIN that the meeting was an informal one, "to see what can be done to push forward the peace process". He said his party had been informed that representatives from President Joseph Kabila's government would attend the talks next week.

On Tuesday, Mbeki held talks with the Kinshasa government in order to gain its perspective on a resumption of formal talks, news agencies reported.

At the end of the ICD, which ran from 25 February until 19 April, when the MLC and DRC government forged an alliance, whereby Kabila would remain president in a new government and MLC leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba, would become prime minister. RCD, which was offered the position of presidency of the National Assembly, rejected the offer and then formed an alliance - entitled the Alliance pour la sauvegarde du dialogue intercongolais - with five unarmed opposition parties, one of them being the Etienne Tshisekedi-led Union pour la democratie et le progres social (UDPS).