UN, South Africa to implement Congolese-Rwandan peace accord

South Africa and the UN have announced the establishment of a joint secretariat to implement the July peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.

In a joint communique issued at UN headquarters in New York on Friday, they said two UN and four South African representatives would serve in the secretariat. The UN officials will be the deputy special representative of the secretary-general for the DRC, and the deputy force commander of the UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC. The South African officials will be the security adviser to the president, the foreign affairs adviser to president, the chief director for Central Africa and the special representative for the Department of Defence.

The announcement followed consultations between UN and South African officials on practical details of the Pretoria accord signed on 30 July. It calls for the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from the DRC, the dismantling of the former Rwandan army and their Interahamwe allies. The deal also provides for the involvement of a "third party", defined in the document as the UN Secretary-General and South Africa, in its dual capacity as chairperson of the African Union and facilitator of the peace process.

It is under this third party clause that the UN and South Africa have held their consultative meeting, during which they pledged "to work closely together to oversee and verify the implementation of the commitments made by both parties".