Gaborone meeting “mother of all meetings” - RCD-Goma

The Goma-based rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) at the weekend emphasised that the Gaborone pre-dialogue talks were the “mother of all talks” as its executive council held crucial discussions on the degree of gravity of the talks and the responsibility of RCD-Goma. The movement said that it was worth remembering that dialogue has been brought about by the fighting forces with positions on the battle field and not because of any political militancy or assemblies in Kinshasa or elsewhere. “It is also useful that an agreement arrived at by the parties in the dialogue be fully implemented in order to move forward and to avoid degenerating into a stalemate,” officials said. “The RCD does not hold the view, held by the non-armed opposition, that an agreement so painstakingly arrived at, at belligerents’ meeting in Gaborone, be implemented by the facilitating team,” they added. RCD-Goma has sent in 13 members to represent it at the Gaborone meeting. The government also sent a 13-member team to the talks.