Belgian FM visits DRC

2004-06-06 09:22

Brussels - Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel left on Sunday for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an urgent bid to help calm violence in the ex-Belgian colony.

Michel was flying to Kinshasa at the start of a three-day trip which will also take him to Uganda and Rwanda, his office said.

"We can't let the transition process go awry," he said shortly before boarding a plane bound for the Congolese airport, according to the Belga news agency.

Michel announced the snap trip on Saturday amid signs of spreading unrest. At least 27 people have been killed in three days of fighting in the troubled northeastern town of Bukavu, according to UN peacekeepers.

"The minister calls on all Congolese parties to continue to work to restore peace and security," his office said in a statement Saturday. "He also calls on neighbouring countries to act responsibly to safeguard the peace process."

The Belgian minister, who had been due to go to the region at the end of June, decided to fly immediately after "intensive contacts" with leaders and UN officials including DRC President Joseph Kabila and Rwanda's Paul Kagame.

"This trip is more or less urgent because of the situation at the moment," his spokesperson Rudy Huygelen told AFP.

On Saturday dissident troops who this week took the key town of Bukavu were marching towards other towns in the east of the country, witnesses and UN sources told AFP.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Saturday condemned the spreading violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and expressed concern in particular at signs of outside involvement in the unrest.

"I forcefully condemn the actions of armed rebels, which threaten the transition" of power, he said, calling for an immediate ceasefire.

- AFP