RCD says it could hand Moliro over to MONUC

The Rwandan-backed rebel group, Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD), which captured the southeastern Congolese town of Moliro on Saturday, has said it is willing to hand it over to the United Nations mission in the DRC (MONUC) in an effort to revive the inter-Congolese dialogue (ICD). The DRC government delegation walked out of the dialogue on Thursday, 14 March, saying that it was suspending its participation until order was restored in Moliro, and the Rwandans and RCD respected a cease-fire. The dialogue has been taking place in Sun City, South Africa. RCD Secretary-General Azarias Ruberwa told AFP news agency on Saturday that the rebels were "in principle announcing a cease-fire" from Saturday evening. "We are making this concession so that the government will no longer have a pretext to block the peace talks," AFP quoted him as saying. On Monday, the RCD announced on RTNC radio that it was willing to withdraw from Moliro, located on Lake Tanganyika in Katanga Province, southeastern DRC, if the following conditions were met: Moliro must be left "in the hands of MONUC", with guarantees that it will oversee the cease-fire and protect the people of the town; the Kinshasa government must undertake not to carry out further attacks on the front-line, and in particular around Moliro; it must cease to support armed groups fighting in eastern DRC; and it must recall all Congolese armed forces from eastern DRC. The ICD, which began on 25 February, has been stalled since the DRC government delegation walked out on Thursday, accusing Rwanda and Rwanda-backed RCD, of breaking a cease-fire by attacking Moliro. Rwanda has said it played no part in the attack, following an accusation by French ambassador to the UN, Jean-David Levitte, to the UN Security Council that 10,000 Rwandan troops were involved. The RCD has also denied the claims of Rwandan troop involvement. Under the terms of the Lusaka peace agreement, signed in 1999, Moliro town (an important strategic point) is recognised as a defensive position of RCD. In May 2001, however, Congolese government troops, backed by militia groups from Rwanda and Burundi, captured the town after the rebels had abandoned it for logistical reasons. Reacting to the news that Moliro had been taken, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Saturday voiced "grave concern". Annan said in a statement that the UN "deplored" the capture, which took place after repeated appeals by the UN Security Council to cease all fighting in the area. "The Secretary General has instructed the UN Organisation Mission in the DRC [MONUC] to assist in the immediate disengagement and withdrawal of all military forces from this town and other contested locations in the southeast," the statement said. "Accordingly, MONUC will be prepared to deploy its military observers in those locations, subject to security guarantees," it added. MONUC spokesman Hamadoun Toure told IRIN on Monday that an observer mission had been sent to Moliro on Saturday but was unable to enter the town due to fighting. On Monday afternoon, MONUC was awaiting permission from the RCD to send another observer mission to the town. As of Monday, Toure could not comment on whether or not Rwandan troops were involved in the fighting in Moliro. He said negotiations were ongoing to find "a long-lasting solution to the problem of Moliro", but that it was too early to say whether or not MONUC troops would be deployed there. Meanwhile, the DRC government and Congolese rebels were trading accusations about fighting in eastern DRC. Congolese Foreign Minister Leonard She Okitundu on Saturday accused Rwandan troops of carrying out other attacks in the east, and warned that they were a serious threat to the ICD. "Since 14 March, Rwandan battalions have been on our territory in Bukavu," he said. RCD spokesman Lola Kisanga told AFP that its fighters had repelled an assault by government forces south of Bukavu at Kitutu, in Sud-Kivu province. In a diplomatic effort to find a solution to the impasse, South African President Thabo Mbeki has been holding talks with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, as well as consulting other leaders involved in the war in DRC, the BBC reported on Monday. The ICD talks facilitator, Ketumile Masire, had also sent two envoys on a rapid diplomatic tour of the region, it said. The envoys would travel to Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Angola, Namibia, Zambia and the DRC, and were expected to report back on 24 March, it added.