Global Policy Forum

The Congolese government, rebels and opposition parties today signed a peace agreement to end four years of civil war and set up a transitional government.

It is hoped the deal will lead the Democratic Republic of Congo to its first democratic elections since independence from Belgium in 1960, and bring an end to the war-induced hunger and disease that has killed some 2.5 million people.

Under the agreement mediated by South Africa, Congo's president, Joseph Kabila, will remain the interim head of state until the elections can be held in about 30 months. The interim government of the resource-rich country, Africa's third largest nation, will also include four vice presidents named from the government, the two rebel groups and the political opposition.

The deal was signed in the South African capital of Pretoria shortly after 2am (0000GMT) when negotiators approved a list apportioning ministries to the various groups. Delegates at the talks said the breakthrough came after Ugandan-backed rebels agreed to give up the finance portfolio to the government in exchange for the presidency of the 500-member national assembly.

Civil society representatives will choose the head of the 120-member senate, said Joseph Mudumbi, the foreign affairs chief of the Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD). The talks were a continuation of earlier negotiations held at the South African resort of Sun City in which rebels and the government agreed to the basic structure of the power-sharing agreement. But the negotiations were bogged down over control of the army, police, diplomats and public companies.

The agreement signed today calls for the deployment of a national police force drawn from both government and rebel held areas to maintain law and order in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, Mr Mudumbi said.

"The government is pleased with this agreement," the Congolese communications minister, Kikaya Bin Karubi, said in Kinshasa. "We are determined to see to its implementation ... It is clear that some issues have not been dealt with - such as the army, the constitution, security - but the main thing has been done."

A UN force is expected to be deployed in Kinshasa to guarantee the security of rebel leaders when they arrive to take up their new jobs, he said. Each rebel leader will take between five and 15 bodyguards with him, Mr Mudumbi added.

On December 4, the UN security council authorised the expansion of its mission to Congo, or Monuc, from 5,537 to 8,700 international military personnel.

The pact extends the power-sharing through the ministerial level, giving the RCD and the Ugandan-backed Movement for Congolese Liberation (MLC) and the political opposition one vice president and seven ministerial posts each. Mayi-Mayi tribal fighters allied to the government and civil society groups will also get portfolios.

It was not immediately clear how long it would take to implement the agreement. A committee is supposed to work out details of the deal, said the RCD leader, Dr Adolphe Onusumba, who is set to become one of the vice presidents. "It might take some time before this agreement is applied on the ground, Dr Onusumba said. "Since we negotiated for a political solution to the war, all it takes is commitment from all sides to make it work."

War broke out in Congo in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda backed Congolese rebels seeking to oust the then president, Laurent Kabila. Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia sent troops to support the government. The search for peace gained momentum under Joseph Kabila, who came to power in the wake of his father's assassination in January 2001.

All but a few of the foreign combatants have withdrawn, but fighting, particularly in the rebel-held north-east and the government-held south-east, continues among rebel splinter groups and tribal fighters. The RCD and MLC currently control eastern and northern Congo, or about one-half of the country.