Mbeki pushes for peace in DRC
2006-09-11 17:43
Kinshasa - President Thabo Mbeki held talks with Democratic Republic of Congo's leader Joseph Kabila and rival Jean-Pierre Bemba on Monday as the international community steps up pressure for a peaceful presidential run-off vote next month.
Fighting in Kinshasa between troops loyal to Kabila and vice-president Bemba killed at least 30 people last month and threatened to derail DRC's first free elections in more than 40 years.
The arrival of Mbeki, who held talks with Kabila on Monday morning and was due to meet Bemba later, was the first in a flurry of diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions in the vast, mineral-rich nation, which has seen a decade of conflict.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana was due to arrive late on Monday for talks, while Britain's international development secretary Hilary Benn also flew to the riverside capital to urge calm ahead of the October 29 run-off.
Mbeki here to listen rather than make proposals
Kabila, who took office when his father was assassinated in 2001, won the July 30 presidential first round with 45% of the vote.
Former rebel chief Bemba polled 20%.
"President Mbeki is here to get an update on the situation and find out what preparations are being made for the second round," said South African ambassador Sisa Ngombane.
"He will consult with President Kabila and vice-president Bemba on what took place in Kinshasa last month, and what will happen in the future," said Ngombane, adding Mbeki had come to listen rather than make proposals.
Talks to avoid a repetition of the three days of street battles in the sprawling capital stalled last week when Kabila's camp refused to allow five pro-Bemba TV channels back on air.
"The signal was restored this morning and... that should allow a relaunch of the negotiations," said Bemba's spokesperson Moise Musangana.
"The arrival of all these dignitaries, Mbeki and Solana, that should also help revive the process."
Humanitarian disaster
The international community has invested $460m (about R3.4bn)in DRC's elections, aimed at drawing a line under a 1998-2003 war, which sucked in six neighbouring countries and killed four million people, the biggest humanitarian disaster since World War Two.
After his coalition won parliamentary elections held on July 30, Kabila appears to have the upper hand for next month's vote, say analysts.
But with divided along ethnic lines, Kabila faces a tough battle in the Lingala-speaking west where he is seen as an eastern foreigner.
With tensions running high, both sides signed an accord last week banning "hate media", but the rival candidates still command thousands of troops in their own private armies.
- Reuters