Kabila only considering attendance at UN debate

President Laurent-Desire Kabila on Monday refused to commit to attending a UN Security Council debate on the DRC conflict at the end of January. Speaking after intensive consultations in Harare at the weekend with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, a key ally in the current conflict, he said he had only formally received an invitation to attend the debate from the US embassy in Harare on Monday and would consider it on his return to Kinshasa on Tuesday, news organisations reported. The US holds the presidency of the Security Council for January and has scheduled a series of open debates on African issues. Kabila was concerned that the US had invited “all parties” to the conflict because he was not prepared to talk directly to rebel leaders, Agence France Presse (AFP) quoted a diplomatic source in Harare as saying.

Mugabe, for his part, said he would attend the Security Council debate to highlight rebel ceasefire violations, the lack of resources for the peace process, the delayed deployment of UN forces to help implement it and an apparent lack of urgency in addressing the conflict on the part of the international community, AFP added.