Border may reopen soon

Officials from the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) met in the CAR capital, Bangui, on Wednesday to discuss the re-opening of their countries' common border. Authorities in the DRC have already authorised crossings three times a week and are hopeful that CAR authorities will soon reciprocate.

"Both populations of Bangui in CAR, and the neighbouring town [in the DRC] of Zongo, are very dependant on the border," Yves Mobango-Yogo, leader of the DRC delegation and governor of the adjacent province of Equateur, told IRIN in Bangui. "It is very important we reopen it."

CAR's ministers for security and interior as well as the army chief of staff, met with the DRC delegation. The special representative of the UN Secretary-General in the CAR, Lamine Cisse, also attended.

The DRC officials said the time was ripe for the border's reopening as peace had returned to Equateur Province. The rebel Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) led by Jean-Pierre Bemba had been operating there but the group had now transformed into a political party. The town of Zongo, formerly an MLC stronghold, is now under the control of DRC army troops.

Bemba's MLC fighters had crossed the border into CAR in October 2002 to try to put down a rebellion led by the army chief at the time, Francois Bozize. But Bozize won out and seized power in March 2003. The MLC fighters were forced out.

Bozize ordered the border closed in September 2003. Trade along the 1,400-km border, most of which follows the Oubangui River, had been well established.

Some trade has continued unofficially. Zongo supplies Bangui with dried fish, groundnuts, palm oil, charcoal, cloth, rubber sandals and wild fowls; Bangui supplies Zongo with sugar, salt and generic drugs.

But pressure to re-open has remained high with reports of shortages and price increases since the border's closure.

"A joint committee CAR-DRC is working on the modalities of re-opening the border," Mobango-Yogo said. "We have the assurance that the border will be re-opened soon."

Cisse, the UN envoy, told IRIN that the CAR-DRC meeting was a "good sign". "The reopening is not only political, it also concerns security and stability in the sub-region," he said.