Global Policy Forum

By Buchizya Mseteka

President Joseph Kabila expressed disappointment on Monday with the United Nations' peace effort in the Democratic Republic of Congo and said the world body should send 20 000 peacekeepers. Kabila also repeated charges of genocide against the Congolese people by Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi and said he would be ready to hold multi-party elections by the year 2002.

Speaking to Reuters and CNN, the 29-year-old president said the United Nations should do for the former Zaire what it did for countries such as Kosovo. "The commitment (from the United Nations) is not what we really expected. The commitment is lacking in terms of personnel and resources," he said.

The United Nations has deployed some 1300 observers to back the peace process in the Congo, a country the size of western Europe. "We should look at what happened elsewhere, in places such as Kosovo. We certainly need nothing less than 20 000 peacekeepers but I will leave it to the United Nations in New York to work out what they think is a realistic figure," he added.

Kabila spoke as a dozen UN Security Council ambassadors wound up a mission to the former Belgian colony in a bid to bolster a peace process signed in Lusaka in 1999. The council has authorised a small UN force to monitor a pull back of armies in Congo's many-sided conflict, which has killed some 2.5 million people, displaced over a quarter million from their homes and driven many more across borders into exile.

The multi-national war has since been dubbed "Africa's World War One" because of the number of countries involved.

Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi in Congo

Congolese rebels backed by Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi control the east, southeast and large parts of the north of Congo, which is rich in minerals including copper, cobalt, uranium, gold and diamonds.

Kabila accused the neighbouring countries of committing genocide against his people and said the international community must bring them to account. "We talk of a genocide and we will continue to talk of a genocide. How else can you classify the deaths of 2.5 million people? It is a genocide," he said. Even those who died from war related causes should be classed as genocide victims, he added. "We have a historic obligation, just as we did in Rwanda in 1994, to speak out when a genocide is taking place," he said.

Kabila and his allies Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe have complained that the United Nations is not doing enough to end the killings and to force unconditional withdrawal by countries backing rebels fighting his government.

Rwandan military strongman Major-General Paul Kagame has repeatedly said he would withdraw all his troops from Congo, but only after Congo secured the border with Rwanda. Kagame accuses Congo of harbouring militia blamed for the deaths of an estimated 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

Kabila wants conference

Kabila said only a regional conference could help to resolve the ethnic tensions and violence in the Great Lakes countries of Rwanda, Congo, Burundi and Uganda. "We need a regional conference and I have suggested that we hold one to work out peace in the whole region. There are (ethnic) tensions in Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda and not just the Congo," he said.

Kabila, who has ended a ban on pluralist politics, said he would like to see multi-party elections in Congo by 2002. "I would like internal dialogue finished by the end of this year. I would like to see elections by the year 2002. I count on the Congolese people and I believe they are receptive to this," he said.

The UN peace plan calls for the withdrawal of foreign troops, disarmament of rebels and militias and internal dialogue to end Congo's political crisis.

Kabila said a preliminary report on the assassination in January of his father president Laurent Kabila would be made public this week. "The preliminary report is ready and those named must go through the justice system. It will be made public this week," he said.