By Nicole Winfield
Associated PressFebruary 21, 2001
The United Nations plays host to its second summit of the warring sides in Congo amid new optimism that the six nations involved are finally prepared to make good on promises to abide by a 1999 cease-fire deal.
New pledges by Rwanda and Uganda to pull troops out of Congolese towns and a willingness by Congo's president to work with a regional mediator have raised hopes that the two-day meetings starting Wednesday will actually move an on-again-off-again peace process forward.
``I think we have a new spirit among the protagonists,'' Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday in outlining expectations for open- and closed-door Security Council meetings attended by parties in the Congo conflict. The summit is expected to culminate with the adoption Thursday of a U.N. resolution mapping out a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the massive, resource-rich central African nation -- and the simultaneous deployment of U.N. military observers to oversee their departure.
Rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda took up arms in August 1998 to oust Congo's late President Laurent Kabila. Kabila kept the rebels at bay by enlisting the help of Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia. All sides signed a cease-fire agreement in Lusaka, Zambia, in 1999, but all have since violated it. However, new hopes for peace have accompanied the installation of Joseph Kabila as Congolese president following the palace slaying of his father, Laurent, last month.
In addition, Rwanda wrote the Security Council on Tuesday saying it would pull its forces out of the southeastern Congolese town of Pweto beginning next Wednesday as a first step to a 125-mile pullback from its front line. Uganda followed suit by saying it would withdraw two battalions of soldiers from Congo, according to a Foreign Ministry statement Tuesday. Kabila, meanwhile, said last week that former Botswana President Ketumile Masire could come to the capital, Kinshasa, to mediate talks with the Congolese opposition. Kabila's father had refused to work with the regionally appointed mediator.
``I think this is crucial,'' Annan said of the turnabout. ``They are all linked. If you make progress on the dialogue, and those who are fighting have a sense that they have a role to play, and they can participate in national politics, you may be able to (persuade) them to stop fighting.''
The draft resolution, which was still being negotiated, sets March 31 as the target date for the various armies to begin an initial pullback of about 9 miles, and September or November as dates for leaving Congolese soil. Similar deadlines have come and gone, but the United Nations appears willing for the first time to send observers into areas as they are vacated to oversee the withdrawal and report on violations.
The Security Council authorized a 5,537-strong observer mission for the Congo after a January, 2000 U.N. summit. So far only 200 observers have deployed. A new deployment plan allows a 3,000-strong force to oversee the initial pullback.
