Annan urges Kigali, Kinshasa to end conflict in east

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Friday to use their influence to stop the ongoing fighting in eastern DRC which he said threatens to undermine the peace process, UN News reported.

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Annan said he was encouraged by last week's meeting in Malawi between presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Joseph Kabila.

"He hopes that the meeting will be followed up by further contacts between the two leaders, as well as by a more detailed dialogue between the two governments on key aspects of the peace process in the DRC and the Great Lakes region," the spokesman said.

Also on Friday, Kagame made a one-day visit to Dar es Salaam to meet with Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa. According to AFP, Kagame said Rwanda supported efforts to restore peace in the DRC and called for the disarmament of groups fighting his government.

"We are ready for peace and willing to pull our troops out of the DRC but we are concerned with the existence of the Interahamwe [Rwandan Hutu rebel militia] who threaten peace in Rwanda," AFP quoted Kagame as telling a news conference shortly before returning to Kigali.

Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister Andre Bumaya, who accompanied the president, told Radio Rwanda on Friday that Kagame also briefed Mkapa on the outcome his meeting with Kabila in Malawi. During that encounter, Kagame urged Kabila to implement the Demobilisation, Disarmament, Reintegration and Repatriation [DDRR] plan for the DRC.

On Sunday, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ended a two-day official visit to Blantyre, during which he and Malawian President Bakili Muluzi discussed peace and security in the Great Lakes region. AFP reported that Muluzi urged Museveni to try to persuade Rwanda to withdraw from the DRC. "He [Museveni] is in the Great Lakes region. I have encouraged him to continue what he is doing to ensure there is peace there," Muluzi told an airport news conference, with Museveni present. Muluzi hailed Uganda's withdrawal of its troops from the DRC "except from one or two areas".

Museveni did not comment on the DRC conflict, saying everything was contained in a brief communique signed by him and Muluzi at the end of the visit.

Muluzi also briefed Museveni on the outcome of five hours of peace talks in Blantyre on Wednesday between Kabila and Kagame.