Rebels hold preparatory talks for inter-Congolese dialogue

The Ugandan-backed Front pour la liberation du Congo (FLC) rebel movement on Monday held a third day of talks at their base in Gbadolite, northern DRC, to prepare for the approaching nationwide inter-Congolese dialogue, AFP reported. Jean-Pierre Bemba, leader of the FLC, told AFP that the talks in Gbadolite were aimed at establishing a common position ahead of a preparatory meeting for the dialogue, scheduled for 16 July in Gabarone, Botswana. “I have asked members of this congress to work on concrete proposals which the MLC and the RCD-ML can raise at the inter-Congolese dialogue,” he said. The FLC is made up of Bemba’s Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo (MLC) and another rebel group, the Rassemblement congolais pour la Democratie - Mouvement de Liberation (RCD-ML). Two main rebel movements emerged after war erupted in the DRC in August 1998: the Ugandan-backed MLC in the north, and the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la Democratie (RCD) in the east. By mid-1999, the RCD had split and another faction emerged, the Rassemblement congolais pour la Democratie - Mouvement de Liberation (RCD-ML), headed by Professor Ernest Wamba dia Wamba under the aegis of Uganda. The RCD-ML, based in Bunia in northeastern DRC near the Ugandan border, has meanwhile been embroiled in its own internal leadership struggle. The movement’s vice-president, Mbusa Nyamwisi, was accused of trying to overthrow Wamba late last year. Nyamwisi’s supporters have designated him the RCD-ML’s new leader.