Scaled-down dialogue to begin while funds are sought

The inter-Congolese dialogue will definitely begin on 15 October in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, facilitator Ketumile Masire announced Saturday.

However, he said full negotiations will not be launched on that date because of insufficient funds available for all delegations to participate.

Speaking at Kinshasa airport, Masire said the decision to forge ahead was taken after consultation with the government, political parties and two rebel movements, who had all agreed. However, the gathering will be far smaller than the 200-300 participants envisaged earlier, at least in the initial stages.

"We had a cash flow problem," Masire explained. "We have enough funds to support the size of [preparatory] meeting that we had in Gaborone [that included 70 participants, in August] ... the rest will depend on how much we have had by October 15."

Masire could not give an exact figure for the funds available but one of his assistants said his bureau had US $3.6 million in pledges of which US $2.6 million was available in cash. His office has estimated the dialogue will cost US $5 million.

The question of whether the meeting will be enlarged after it starts is a "technical matter" to be decided at Addis Ababa after discussions among the delegates. Masire's new concept of the dialogue involves setting up several commissions of delegates chaired by outside experts from neutral African countries. Their reports may then be put to a larger meeting. The meeting is scheduled to last 45 days, but "that's just an estimation", Masire said.

In light of the impact that insufficient funds could have on full representation and participation of all parties in the dialogue, the government of the DRC on Sunday urged that the dialogue proper be postponed and that the gathering scheduled for 15 October be considered a preliminary meeting in which to resolve issues and constraints. Speaking on government RTNC TV on Sunday, DRC Minister of Communication and government spokesman Kikaya Bin Karubi said: "It is [...] the view of the government of the DRC that the Addis Ababa meeting, in which it will certainly participate, should only deliberate on the above-mentioned constraints [such as full representation of civil society; participation of the Congolese Mayi-Mayi militias and the RCD-ML armed opposition movement] to which it will endeavour to find appropriate solutions. On this same occasion, a new date for the proper dialogue should be seriously looked into."

An opposition leader also lamented that delegations would be scaled back because of funding. "We do not have the independence we need in terms of finances. There is goodwill among all Congolese for reuniting the maximum number of people to end once and for all the conflict in the DRC," Joseph Olenghankoy, head of the New Forces for Union and Federation (FONUS), told AFP.

A coalition of civil society organisations in Kinshasa has also urged Masire to proceed with the full dialogue as planned, even if it means relocating it to Cape Town, where the South African government has reportedly offered to contribute 50 percent of the costs for the meeting.

The Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) armed opposition movement also suggested on Friday that preliminary talks be convened as planned on 15 October in Addis Ababa, while more complete and representative talks take place later in South Africa.