June 26, 2000
The Organization of African Unity (OAU) wants the Congo government to iron out differences with the mediator charged with bringing together the country's warring factions, saying it would not appoint a new one, diplomats said on Monday.
The government of President Laurent Kabila has voiced strong opposition to former Botswana president Ketumile Masire, chosen in December by the warring parties to lead national talks aimed at establishing a broad-based government in Congo.
U.N. Security Council diplomats, briefed on the controversy, said Salim Ahmed Salim, the OAU secretary-general, had made it clear to Kabila he would help try rebuild bridges between his government and Masire. But they said Salim was not prepared to start the process from scratch and find a new facilitator, which would take months and needed the agreement of all parties to the Congo conflict.
Congo police last Wednesday sealed Masire's office in Kinshasa, sparking protests from the OAU and the U.N. Security Council, which called for it to be reopened immediately.
On Friday the government opened the office but stood firm on its rejection of Masire, a former president of Botswana. "The government recalls that its decision to withdraw its confidence in Masire is irrevocable," Information Minister Didier Mumengi told state radio on Friday after a cabinet meeting.
Congo officials have accused Masire of being one-sided and unnecessarily critical of the Kabila government in his private and public comments.
Rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda took up arms against Kabila in 1998 and now control the east and part of the north of Africa's third largest nation. In turn Kabila's government is supported by troops from Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia.
The 53-nation OAU appointed Masire in December to organize a "national dialogue" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of a peace deal signed by the combatants in Lusaka, Zambia nearly a year ago.
