Masire pushes for resumption of dialogue

The inter-Congolese dialogue is not dead, only dormant, according to the office of the facilitator of the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), headed by Botswanan former President Ketumile Masire.

"The inter-Congolese dialogue remains adjourned. When it comes to an end, everyone will know," George Ola-Davies, Masire's spokesman, told IRIN on Tuesday. "Masire remains facilitator of the inter-Congolese dialogue."

The peace talks in Sun City, South Africa, which started at the end of February and ended on 19 April with an agreement among a majority of delegates in attendance, but which was not recognised by Masire, who had sought an inclusive agreement involving all Congolese stakeholders.

The deal, which was first worked out between the Kinshasa authorities and the Ugandan-backed rebel Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo (MLC), kept 31-year-old Joseph Kabila as president and made the MLC leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba, prime minister.

The Rwandan-backed rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma), however, refused to sign, citing among its objections Kabila's retention of the presidency, and an insufficient role offered the RCD-Goma in a transitional government leading to the drafting of a new constitution and the holding of democratic elections.

"Masire's mandate was to bring peace, and despite various accords, I don't think that's been achieved yet," Ola-Davies said.

He said Masire's team was continuing to conduct active behind-the-scenes shuttle diplomacy among all participants in the inter-Congolese dialogue in an effort to bring everyone back to the table to sign on to what has remained an incomplete accord, most notably with the absence of RCD-Goma. RCD-Goma, however, has recently expressed unconditional willingness to resume talks.

Also absent were several key political opposition parties, such as Etienne Tshisekedi's Union pour la democratie et le progres social (UDPS). Within a week of the Sun City accord, the UPDS, together with a number of other opposition parties, forged an unlikely coalition with RCD-Goma, called the Alliance pour la sauvegarde du dialogue inter-congolais, with its primary objective being to bring about a resumption of the inter-Congolese dialogue.

As for funds, Ola-Davies said Masire's team had "sufficient to keep us going for a while". He could not provide specific figures, but noted that the office of the facilitator sent audited monthly reports to donors.

Asked about Masire's relationship with Mustapha Niasse, a former prime minister of Senegal who was recently appointed as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy for the DRC peace process, Ola-Davies said their roles were complementary, noting that "Niasse is in regular contact with the facilitator". Niasse has worked closely with Masire in the past, having headed the political and legal committee of the inter-Congolese dialogue.

Masire still heads a team of some 14 professionals and as many support staff at offices in Gaborone, Botswana, and Kinshasa, DRC. The office of the facilitator still maintains a website, located at http://www.drcpeace.org. While the site has not been updated since the close of talks in Sun City, Ola-Davies expects it to be up and running again "any day now".

In a related development, Kabila has named Vital Kamhere as the DRC government's commissioner-general in charge of following up the peace process in the Great Lakes region. Kamhere will be assisted by two deputies, Mupapa Say and Seraphin Ngwej.