SOUTH African Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota arrived late on Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where he is expected to hold talks with President Joseph Kabila on the formation of a peacekeeping force for the country’s eastern province of Kisangani. Lekota will also meet UN special representative Amos Namanga Ngongi and leaders of the UN mission in the country. Under UN proposals to demilitarise Kisangani, which has been held by rebel forces belonging to RCD (Congolese Rally for Democracy) since August 23, 1998, the UN mission has to set up a peacekeeping force to maintain public order. South Africa’s army has been given the task of ensuring that this force is established. South Africa is also expected to host the next round of Inter-Congolese talks, as set out in the Lusaka ceasefire agreement of July-August 1999, which will reunite some 330 participants representing the DRC government, the rebel movements (the RCD supported by Rwanda and the Congo Liberation Movement backed by Uganda) and various political parties. The Lusaka accord is widely regarded as the only viable blueprint for peace in the country, where a three-year war has left an estimated 2,5-million people dead. – AFP