Global Policy Forum

By Mark Dummett

A European Union team led by Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel arrives in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, Kinshasa, on Wednesday to breathe new life into the peace process It stalled after the government walked out of talks with rebel groups in October.

Since the failure of the negotiations, known as the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, the peace process has been faltering. The EU team will meet President Joseph Kabila, who was credited with getting the talks started in the first place, but whose government eventually scuppered them.

Under the presidency of the Belgian government, the EU has been a major sponsor of the process to find a lasting settlement for its old colony.

Suspicions

The delegation will be keen to find out from President Kabila and the organiser of the dialogue, former Botswana president Sir Ketumile Masire, what went wrong. The team will want President Kabila to remove suspicions he is happy with the status quo, which leaves him in control of about a third of the country while rebels are in charge of the rest.

Sir Ketumile will be expected to show proof he is capable of getting all the sides sitting round the same table again. He in turn is likely to announce that this will indeed happen, probably in South Africa in January but only if they, the EU, are prepared to put up more money.

The October talks broke down partly because of this lack of funds.

Looters

At the same time, all sides will be digesting the findings of a UN report released on Monday which argues that the war in Congo is driven by the systematic exploitation of the country's resources. The Congolese government and its main ally, Zimbabwe, have been accused, along with the main rebel backers, Uganda and Rwanda, of prolonging the war to make maximum profit.

President Kabila is yet to comment.

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