Different agendas challenge war solution

A Brussels-based think tank has pointed out the greatest challenge to resolving the DRC war is that six separate disputes are being waged on Congolese territory, and the internal conflict in DRC is inseparably linked to the internal problems facing the other countries involved. The International Crisis Group (ICG), in its latest report on the DRC conflict, recalls that in addition to the war between Kinshasa and the DRC rebels, there are the conflicts between Rwanda and the ex-FAR/Interahamwe, Uganda and its own rebels as well as Sudan, Burundi and the FDD, Angola and UNITA, Congo-Brazzaville and rebel militias. “The war has not yet produced any winners or losers,” the report says. “If the war does produce a victor, the field will be free for the imposition of another dictatorship and the culture of violence will become even more deeply ingrained in Congo.” The report stresses that the stakes for all those involved are very high. “The [DRC] rebels are today divided between those seeking to overthrow Kabila by exercising the military option, who are supported by the Rwandans, and those who would prefer a negotiated settlement and an end to hostilities. The latter group are willing to accept Kabila as president of a transitional government.” [report available on http://www.crisisweb.org]