Congo Rebels Sign Peace
Agreement
JOHANNESBURG,
South Africa - Congo's government, rebels and opposition parties signed
a peace accord Tuesday to end four years of civil war and set up a
transitional government to lead Africa's third-largest nation to its
first democratic elections since independence in 1960.
Under the accord, mediated by South Africa, Congo President Joseph
Kabila will remain the interim head of state until the elections can
be held in about 30 months.
The accord appeared to represent Congo's best hope yet for a lasting
peace because the deal marked the first time that both major rebel
groups and the government have agreed on a power-sharing arrangement.
Recent attempts failed when they could not win the support of all
the major parties.
South African President Thabo Mbeki expressed hope the agreement would
bring lasting peace and democracy to Congo and help stabilize central
Africa.
"We're quite convinced that they are very determined that this
will succeed," said Mbeki. "The agreement would also help
bring stability to the entire region."
Hamadoun Toure, spokesman for the U.N. mission in Congo, called the
agreement one of "great historic importance" and said he
was optimistic because the accord involves everyone this time.
"We have observed great political will, a spirit of compromise
and lots of flexibility ... but we exhort them to demonstrate the
same political courage and flexibility in the implementation of the
document," said Toure.
"The Congolese people see this moment as really something that
is dramatically new," said Mbeki, who also said that, "Africans
could not truly reconstruct the continent without peace in the Congo."
Chances for success of this accord also have been bolstered by the
withdrawal of all but a handful of the tens of thousands of foreign
soldiers who took sides during the civil war.
Namanga Ngongi, the U.N. special representative for Congo, called
the accord a "landmark in the history of the country."
He said the chances for lasting peace were enhanced by the commitment
of the signatories and their ability to overcome their "old reflexes
of distrust."
Ngongi praised Mbeki and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for their
determination to bring peace to Congo and noted that the agreement
also comes at a time when the U.N. force in Congo is being reinforced.
Under the deal, the interim government will also include four vice
presidents named from the government, the two rebel groups and the
political opposition. Delegates said it wasn't clear how long it would
take to implement the accord.
Congo's civil war has left an estimated 2.5 million people dead, mainly
from war-induced hunger and disease. Congo is a resource-rich nation
about the size of Western Europe.
In Kinshasa, Congo's capital, newspapers hailed what headlines called
the coming of peace, and crowds gathered on street corners, debating
if that could be.
"Next year, the Congolese can start to look toward the future,
and try to rebuild their country," said Leon Ilunga a civil servant
in the garbage-heaped city.
"I hope that this deal will stick," he added anxiously.
The peace deal was signed in the South African capital shortly after
2 a.m. Tuesday when negotiators approved a list assigning ministries
to the various groups. The Ugandan-backed rebels agreed to give up
the finance portfolio to the government in exchange for the presidency
of the 500-member national assembly, delegates at the talks said.
Civil society representatives will choose the head of the 120-member
senate, Joseph Mudumbi, foreign affairs chief of the Rwandan-backed
Congolese Rally for Democracy, said.
The talks were a continuation of earlier negotiations held at the
South African resort of Sun City in which rebels and the government
agreed to the basic structure of the power-sharing agreement. But
the negotiations bogged down over control of the army, police, diplomats
and public companies.
The new accord calls for the deployment of a national police force
drawn from government-and rebel-held areas to maintain law and order
in the Congolese capital, Mudumbi said.
"The government is pleased with this agreement," Congolese
Communications Minister Kikaya Bin Karubi said in Kinshasa. "We
are determined to see to its implementation ... It is clear that some
issues have not been dealt with - such as the army, the constitution,
security - but the main thing has been done."
A U.N. force is expected to be deployed in Kinshasa to guarantee the
security of rebel leaders when they arrive to take up their new jobs,
he said.
On Dec. 4, the U.N. Security Council authorized the expansion of the
United Nations Mission to Congo, from 5,537 to 8,700 international
military personnel.
A committee is supposed to work out details of the deal, said Congolese
Rally for Democracy head Adolphe Onusumba, who is set to become one
of the vice presidents. It was not clear how long it would take to
implement the agreement, Onusumba cautioned.
However, "since we negotiated for a political solution to the
war, all it takes is commitment from all sides to make it work."
Congo's war broke out in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda backed
Congolese rebels in a bid to oust then-President Laurent Kabila. Angola,
Zimbabwe and Namibia sent troops to support the government.
Kabila was assassinated in January 2001, and the peace drive gained
momentum under his son and successor, Joseph Kabila.
All but a few of the foreign combatants have withdrawn, but fighting,
particularly in the rebel-held northeast and the government-held southeast,
continues among rebel splinter groups and tribal fighters.
