Government, MLC and allies prepare for talks with RCD-Goma

The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has said that an all-inclusive peace accord among all Congolese parties could be reached before the end of this month. However, the former rebel Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC), with which the government reached a separate power-sharing accord in April in Sun City, South Africa, has expressed reservations.

"We want an inclusive accord - including the [Rwandan-backed] Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie [RCD-Goma] and the UDPS [veteran DRC politician Etienne Tshisekedi's Union pour la democratie et le progres] - within three weeks," DRC Information Minister Kikaya Bin Karubi told IRIN on Thursday.

A meeting was due to be held on Friday between representatives of the DRC government and the MLC, as well as civil society groups and political opposition parties which signed the Sun City accord.

Saying that it, too, seeks a global accord, the MLC has cautioned that the terms of the Sun City agreement must be respected. "To not respect the agreement we signed in Sun City would be the equivalent to sanctioning partition of the country," MLC Secretary General Olivier Kamitatu told IRIN, adding that the MLC was nevertheless interested in negotiations with the RCD.

Kamitatu believes that the Sun City accord should form the basis of negotiations with the RCD. The MLC has expressed concern that the DRC government might not respect the Sun City agreement.
"President Joseph Kabila is torn between an agreement signed by the Congolese and one signed with Rwanda. We say that the agreement between the Rwandan and Congolese presidents does not diminish the agreement reached among the sons of this country," Kamitatu said.

The Sun City accord recognised Kabila as the DRC head of state and gave the MLC leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba, the post of prime minister. These propositions never became reality, however, as the two parties could not reach an agreement on who would control the future army, and on the means of accession to power.

For Kikaya, the meeting on Friday will enable all the various parties to put strategies in place with a view to beginning discussions with RCD.

"We hope to reach an inclusive accord... with the implementation of the accord signed on 30 July in Pretoria between the Rwandan and Congolese presidents," Kikaya said.

In a related development, the DRC government has created a new body called the "Commissariat au processus de paix dans les Grands Lacs", charged with following up the peace process in the Great Lakes region. It will be headed by Vital Kamerhe, who will be assisted by two deputies, Mupapa Say and Seraphin Ngwej.