Global Policy Forum

By Patrick Smith and John Dludlu

Johannesburg - Commonwealth governments called for global support for the work of the United Nations' (UN's) sanctions committee and increased humanitarian aid as fighting continued in Angola.

At the end of the biennial meeting, heads of government called on the international community to step up humanitarian aid, especially to the people who have been displaced by the war between the government forces and Unita, the rebel movement of Jonas Savimbi.

The UN, one of several key sponsors of the peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was asked to "speedily deploy a peacekeeping force" there. A communique called on the international community to extend the "necessary support to the Organisation for African Unity and the joint military commission to carry out their mandate".

Meanwhile, the planned Sudan-Uganda peace talks, which would have been mediated by President Thabo Mbeki on the fringes of the summit, have been scuppered by Sudanese military leader Gen Omer Al-Bashir's failure to arrive in Durban, President Yoweri Museveni said last night.

"I was told Bashir is not coming. It is Bashir who asked for this meeting through the South Africans and we obliged," Museveni said. "They say Bashir is sick. This is the second time, so I think we shall have to ignore such requests in future.

"In this case Bashir approached President Mbeki. So it's my job as President of Uganda to pursue all channels in case something may be of some use," Museveni added. But he was much more optimistic about the future of the peace accord in Congo. "I think on balance the ceasefire will hold."

"For us we think the Lusaka agreement was good. It catered for the internal issues in Congo and it catered for regional security problems. We think Lusaka should be supported. I spoke to (Zimbabwean) President (Robert) Mugabe and he is in full support of Lusaka," Museveni said. For Museveni the Lusaka agreement represented a settling of differences between Uganda and Zimbabwe and there were historic political ties between their countries: "We were all part of the anti- colonial movement."

But Museveni accused Congolese President Laurent Kabila of violating the Lusaka accord. He said Kabila's forces had launched attacks in the past week on the north-western based Movement for the Liberation of Congo led by Pierre Bemba, but added Kabila's forces had been defeated there.

Museveni was confident there were mechanisms on both sides to forestall another round of all-out fighting. "We had a summit between Uganda and Rwanda and we are in the process of synchronising our position." as the best way forward to "consolidate the Lusaka peace process."