Extra 90 days to implement peace accord

During talks held on 1 November in the South African administrative capital, Pretoria, Presidents Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Paul Kagame of Rwanda agreed to an extra 90 days to implement the Pretoria peace accord. The accord, signed on 30 July, committed Rwanda to withdrawing its troops from DRC territory in return for the demobilisation and repatriation of Rwandan Hutu Interahamwe militias and former armed forces, who had sought refuge in the DRC following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. A statement released by the Rwandan government said the extra time would enable the DRC government to fulfil its commitments under the agreement. Kagame acknowledged that progress had been made on the DRC side, and that Rwanda was "to a great extent happy", but added that "a number of things are yet to be done". One high-profile case, that of Tharcisse Renzaho, had been dealt with, but there were "many other cases like that of even higher-profile people", he said. "We are told by the DRC that this is being looked into, and we expect progress," he added. Commenting on the extension period, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who was chairing the talks, said it did not mean "that we shall drag it out so that it takes that period of time, but we are allowing sufficient time so that everything that needs to be done is done". The three heads of state agreed to ask the UN Security Council to review the mandate of the UN Mission in the DRC (known as MONUC) with a view to "enabling it [to] participate more actively in the implementation process", the Rwandan government said. Mbeki added in a statement that the heads of state had agreed to meet every 30 days to review further progress made, and to sort out "whatever obstacles might arise". In a separate development, all Congolese parties to the conflict - rebel groups, government, the unarmed opposition and civil society - have been given until 20 November to produce a written submission to the UN on the "broad principles of the transition", a spokeswoman from the South African Department of Foreign Affairs, Basetsana Thokoane, told IRIN on Monday. She added that informal talks on power sharing, which were ongoing last week in Pretoria, were continuing. Addressing reporters in Pretoria on Friday after meeting both Kagame and Mbeki, Kabila said the DRC would have a transitional government by January 2003, the South African news agency, Sapa, reported.