Global Policy Forum

By Susan Njanji and Dickson Jere

A new bid to end Africa's most complex war suffered a setback Thursday when only three presidents of the six nations fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) decided to attend a peace summit here.

Presidents Joseph Kabila of the DRC, Sam Nujoma of Namibia, and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe were in Lusaka for talks that were delayed several hours amid confusion about who would attend.

The latest round of negotiations to end the two and a half year conflict are the first since the assassination last month of DRC president Laurent Kabila.

His son Joseph Kabila succeeded him as leader of the vast central African nation, and immediately declared his intention to revive a moribund ceasefire signed in Lusaka in mid-1999.

The 29-year-old Kabila, who will make his debut at the negotiating table here, arrived on Wednesday night amid tight security.

Kabila's openness to new talks had given rise to hopes that this summit would yield progress toward ending the war that has split his nation in half.

But Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, who back rebel movements that control the country's mineral-rich eastern half, have opted not to attend the meeting.

Museveni has sent a presidential envoy, as he continues to campaign for next month's elections in his country.

Kagame has refused to send a delegation at all -- despite host President Frederick Chiluba's insistence Wednesday that the Rwandan leader would take part in the talks.

Kagame earlier this week claimed that Zambia was no longer a neutral party to the talks.

On Thursday, Rwandan Foreign Minister Andre Bumaya said Chiluba was biased in favour of the Kinshasa government.

"Rwanda is categorical. We are protesting the partiality of the mediator in the war that is tearing the DRC apart, despite his position in resolving the conflict," Bumaya said.

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is also sitting out this round, dispatching Defense Minister Kundi Pahyama as his representative.

Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe have deployed troops to the DRC to prop up the government against the rebels.

Nonetheless, leaders already here professed optimism that the talks would achieve some progress.

Mugabe, whose country is Kinshasa's largest military backer with up to 11,000 troops on the ground, expressed the hope that the summit would give impetus to peace efforts and commended Kabila for his efforts thus far in trying to revive the Lusaka deal.

"He has started well. He has wanted to familiarise himself with the environment and personalities, that's why he visited Europe and other countries and addressed the (UN) Security Council. That's a good beginning," Mugabe said late Wednesday.

Chiluba, the regional mediator, said Wednesday he was "very confident" that the meeting "will open this new avenue to try and recommit ourselves ... to the peace process."

A rebel faction leader said Thursday he was optimistic about the new round of peace talks, and said he was so far "satisfied" with the younger Kabila.

"Our expectations are very high," said Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, leader of the Ugandan-backed rebel faction Congolese Rally for Democracy-Liberation Movement (RCD-ML).

"Something has to come out of this summit," he told AFP ahead of the talks. "Nearly two million people have died. We don't want to make comparisons, but this is a lot of people."

Excluded from the summit, by the organisers, are some of the continent's would-be peacemakers -- including South Africa, Mozambique and Libya -- which have in the past tried to aid the peace process.

Chiluba, who played a major role in getting a peace deal signed by the warring parties in July 1999, said this round of talks was exclusively for signatories to the barely-implemented Lusaka deal.