SADC to Investigate Conflict in Congo
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Sunday Times (Johannesburg)
June 20, 2004
Posted to the web June 21, 2004
S'thembiso Msomi
Johannesburg
MINISTER of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will this week lead a delegation of
Southern African ministers on a fact-finding mission seeking to establish the causes
of unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this month.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will be sending foreign and defence
ministers from South Africa, Lesotho and Mozambique to investigate the latest
conflict, in which the eastern Congo town of Bukavu was taken over by rebel soldiers.
The ministers will also visit Rwanda, which has been accused by the Congo government
of helping the dissident group during the invasion. The rebel group is led by General
Laurent Nkunda, who is said to have close ties with the Rwandan army.
Rwanda has denied any involvement in the conflict.
The failed Bukavu insurrection led to riots in the country's capital, Kinshasa, and a
number of other towns, sparking fears of renewed armed conflict.
Six years ago Rwandan-backed rebels launched their military campaign against the
self-imposed President Laurent Kabila.
The campaign degenerated into a bloody war that claimed the lives of more than two
million people between 1998 and 2002.
The involvement of six foreign armies that backed various rebel factions and
government forces perpetuated the conflict.
A peace deal was later signed, resulting in the creation of a unity government
comprising various factions.
As part of the peace deal, Kabila's unity government is preparing Congo for general
elections in 2005.
On Friday, Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano - chairman of the African Union - was
in Kinshasa to discuss the latest crisis with Kabila. The two are believed to have
discussed the possible deployment of more international troops along the Congo's
border with Rwanda.
The SADC ministers were initially scheduled to leave for Congo today but the trip was
postponed because the Congolese Defence Minister, Jean-Pierre Ondekane, was not
available.
Relevant Links
Central Africa
Southern Africa
South Africa
Congo-Kinshasa
Post-Conflict Challenges
Ondekane was in South Africa to negotiate a defence co-operation agreement that will
see the SA National Defence Force helping Congo to integrate its armed forces.
The agreement was signed on Friday.
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