September 19, 2002
The foreign minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Leonard She Okitundu, welcomed the expected Rwandan troop pullout from his country Tuesday, but insisted on UN verification of the withdrawal. "We can only rejoice once this pullout will be confirmed by the United Nations, once it is verified," She Okitundu told AFP during a visit by DRC President Joseph Kabila to Jordan, his first to an Arab country.
"This pullout must be effective, that means we should not simply play to the audience by pulling the troops in broad daylight and bringing them back at night," the DRC foreign minister said. Kigali announced Monday that it would begin pulling out on Tuesday a first batch of its large military contingent backing rebels in the DRC, four years after embroiling itself in Africa's biggest ever conflict.
Rwandan Communications Minister Joseph Bideri said the repatriation would involve about 1,500 men stationed in the eastern towns of Kindu and Kalima, which Rwandan forces and their close allies in the rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) captured four years ago to the day. Around 20,000 to 40,000 Rwandan troops are estimated to be deployed in eastern DRC.
The DRC foreign minister said the pullout should be completed within 90 days in line with provisions contained in a deal struck between Kigali and Kinshasa in Pretoria on July 30, to pave the way for the establishment of a representative government in Kinshasa by the end of the year. That government would be tasked with the duty of preparing the ground for elections and "re-establishing democracy" in the DRC in two years, She Okitundu told AFP.
"If the Rwandan troops pull out totally from Congolese territory in 90 days, this will be a big event that will unblock the evolution of the internal situation," he said. "The Rwandan presence prevented Congolese reconciliation and the establishment of an inclusive government," he stressed.
"Reconciliation is already underway but the Rwanda pullout will allow the Congolese to form a representative government by the end of this year ... and we are giving ourselves two years before holding elections to re-establish democracy in Congo," he added.
She Okitundu stressed that his country had met its engagements in line with the Pretoria agreement by disarming armed groups and securing the withdrawal of most Angolan, Namibian and Zimbabwean troops that were in Congo on the government's side.
The ball was now in the courts of Kigali and the international community, he said. "We are optimistic because so far the international community was almost indifferent toward the Congolese crisis but now we have the impression that the international community is taking things to heart and seriously," he said.
"We obtained from the Security Council its determination to do everything in its power to secure the pullout of the Rwandan troops ... and we are now confidant that if Rwanda does not honour its engagements the international community could issue sanctions against it," he added. One such engagement on Rwanda's part, he said, was to pave the way for the repatriation of some 2,000 combattants captured by the DRC who are currently being held in the Kamina military base, in the south-east of the country. "We cannot allow these elements to remain on our territory for too long -- that is why we ask Rwanda to prepare for their return and authorise the United Nations to repatriate them," She Okitundu said. Meanwhile, he said that 80 percent of Angolese troops and all Namibian troops that were present in the DRC have left the country, where Zimbabwe still deploys 1,000 men. Kabila meanwhile had a second day of talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II on ways of developing bilateral cooperation between their countries in the fields of trade, transport, health and the mining sector. The two men have also discussed the possibility of Jordan joining UN peacekeeping forces in the DRC as well as establishing diplomatic links between Amman and Kinshasa, She Okintundu said.
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