UN: DRC peace deal signing cancelled
2013-01-28 10:24
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Ban KI-Moon
As a child in South Korea, Ban Ki-moon wrote a letter to the UN secretary-general regarding the...
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Addis Ababa - The signing of a peace deal for troubled
eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where rebels seized the key city of Goma
last year and still control significant territory, was "cancelled" on
Monday, the United Nations officials said.
"This is a very complex issue, talks are still
continuing," said Eri Kaneko, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon, without giving any details on why the proposed deal in the
Ethiopian capital had stalled.
It had been hoped that leaders from Africa's Great Lakes
region would sign an agreement aimed at ending recurrent unrest in volatile and
mineral-rich eastern DRC, where the M23 - a rebel group formed by army
mutineers - briefly seized Goma in November.
Ban urged regional leaders at the African Union summit
meeting on Sunday to "endorse a Peace Security and Co-operation Framework
to address the structural causes of the recurring cycles of violence" in
the region.
The content of the agreement had not been made public, but a
signing ceremony with Ban and eight heads of state had been set for Monday
morning.
The presidents of Rwanda and Uganda - which UN experts have
accused of backing the M23, a charge both governments deny - as well as DRC,
Angola, Burundi, Republic of Congo, South Africa and Tanzania had been expected
to sign the deal.
The announcement of its cancellation was made some 30
minutes before the ceremony had been due to start at the AU headquarters.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Ugandan counterpart
Yoweri Museveni both refused to comment on the proposed deal Sunday.
The latest cycle of unrest in eastern DRC erupted last year
when the rebels seized mining hub Goma before pulling out 12 days later. Peace
talks have been held in Uganda, but have so far made little headway.
