February, 2001
President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo's diplomatic offensive focuses on the United Nations on Friday. Following a string of meetings in the past four days with the key international peace brokers, the newly installed president is heading to New York to resuscitate the UN's peacekeeping mission.
The UN has delayed the deployment of a 5,500-strong force to the DRC because of doubts over whether the countries involved in the Congo conflict are committed to the on-going peace process. Joseph Kabila's assassinated father, Laurent, was widely viewed as creating obstacles to the Lusaka peace process. The new president is trying to overcome them.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and members of the Security Council will take heart from President Kabila's rapid decision to hold face-to-face talks with Rwanda, whose soldiers occupy large parts of the DRC.
UN Security Council members will have to make a realistic assessment of how much power Mr Kabila, 29, has in a country divided between several different foreign armies and rebel factions.
The meeting between the leaders of the DR Congo and its adversary Rwanda has been greeted as a step forward in efforts to end the war.
Mr Kabila and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame met in Washington on Thursday. Our correspondent in Washington says the impetus for the meeting appeared to have come from the two leaders themselves.
The Lusaka agreement, which allows for UN intervention, was never put into effect as the parties could not agree on the details.
Rwanda argues that it needs to control eastern DR Congo because of the presence in the region of the Interahamwe - militia groups linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide - who Rwanda believes still pose a threat to its security.
Rwandan troops propelled Laurent Kabila to power in 1997, but Rwanda transferred its support to anti-Kabila rebels after the late president failed to deal with the Interahamwe.
His son took up office promising to press ahead with the implementation of the peace plans, which so far have done little to reduce the level of conflict. His overtures were rejected by the main rebel group, the Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for Democratic (RCD). But Rwanda's President Kagame expressed a commitment to pressing ahead with the peace process when he met the new US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, on Wednesday.
Mr Powell then met Mr Kabila on Thursday, and is believed to have been impressed by the Congolese leader's commitment to the peace process. The war in Congo has been described as "Africa's world war", drawing in five neighbouring countries. Rwanda and Uganda are backing the rebels in the east. Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia are supporting the Kinshasa government.
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