MESSAGE BOARD: Congo Peace?

August 8, 1999
Web posted at: 11:29 a.m. EDT (1529 GMT)

In this story: Calm restored to Kisangani Clashes delay diplomatic visit RELATED STORIES, SITES

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- South African President Thabo Mbeki and three other African presidents met Sunday in Pretoria to talk about putting an end to war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

"The talks have just started. They are about peace in the Congo," Mbeki spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said.

A foreign affairs spokesman said the talks were being held at Mbeki's official residence.

Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimingu, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa arrived in South Africa earlier Sunday, the spokesman said.

Rwanda and Uganda, which are backing separate rebel factions against Congolese President Laurent Kabila, signed a cease- fire last month with the four other countries involved in the conflict -- Congo, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia.

The rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy refused to sign the agreement because of an internal leadership struggle.

Sunday's meeting comes six days before a Southern African Development Community summit in Mozambique, where peace in the region will be discussed.

Calm restored to Kisangani

Rebel clashes continued Saturday night in Kisangani, Congo's third-largest city.

The commanders of the Ugandan and Rwandan forces met Sunday morning to try to restore calm after an all-night gunbattle during which city residents cowered in their homes. The tense atmosphere left the streets almost deserted until mid- morning.

Commander James Kazini, heading the Ugandan troops who support Ernest Wamba dia Wamba and his rebel faction, and Rwandan Commander Patrick Nyanvumba, whose men support rival leader Emile Ilunga, appeared to have ordered both groups to stop firing.

The fighting closed both of Kisangani's airports, but Ugandan sources on Sunday said they had reopened. There were no confirmed reports of casualties, despite the heavy gunfire, and local sources denied radio reports that seven Ugandan soldiers had been killed.

Three Ugandan journalists told reporters they were detained overnight after being taken from their hotel by Ilunga's soldiers, but they were not harmed.

Clashes delay diplomatic visit

Saturday's fighting prevented a Zambian peace delegation from flying into Kisangani to urge the rival leaders to support the peace plan hammered out last month in the Zambian capital Lusaka.

Zambian Presidential Affairs Minister Erik Silwamba had been expected in Kisangani this weekend, but canceled his plans after the shooting started.

The Kisangani clashes marked a new low in relations between the divided factions of the Congolese Rally for Democracy, or RCD, which took up arms a year ago to oust Kabila. It also underlines the deteriorating relations between Ugandan and Rwandan troops on the ground in the Congo.

The RCD now holds much of the eastern half of the vast country. It refused to sign the Lusaka pact because of a leadership struggle between dia Wamba and Ilunga -- who in May ousted dia Wamba as the group's official chief.

Wamba refuses to accept his dismissal and now heads an RCD splinter group with Uganda's backing.

Some Kisangani residents blamed the Rwandan-backed faction of the RCD for starting Saturday's shooting. About 5,000 residents attended a rally for dia Wamba before the shooting began.

Ilunga's troops are based in Goma, on the Rwandan border, while dia Wamba has now established his base in Kisangani, a Ugandan stronghold.

Five hundred people, including 134 rebel soldiers, are believed to have died in fighting earlier this week. One of the rebel groups reported that a Sudanese warplane bombed two villages in the north of the country Wednesday.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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