OWN CORRESPONDENT, Addis Ababa | Friday 6.30pm.
A RIFT has developed in the Addis Ababa talks aimed at brokering a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Both Uganda and Rwanda, accused by DRC President Laurent Kabila of invading the DRC, have demanded that the rebel leaders be invited to the talks.
The DRC delegation and Kabila’s allies – Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe – are against the rebels being invited.
Representatives from the six countries embroiled in the conflict, as well as Zambia, attending as a “neutral”, are gathered at the Organisation of African Unity headquarters in Addis Ababa for a two-day discussion on how to implement a ceasefire in the DRC.
The rebels seeking to topple Kabila have said that without them also attending the discussion, any talk of a ceasefire is “pointless”.
Rwanda, which has adamantly denied direct military intervention in the conflict, said there is no likelihood of a settlement unless the rebels talk to Kabila.
Zambian Defence Minister Chitula Sampa has told reporters that some progress has been made between Kabila’s allies on one side and Rwanda and Uganda on the other.
Kabila himself is not at the talks. After a visit on Thursday to the Central African Republic to brief President Ange Felix Patasse, he returned to his Katanga stronghold, Lubumbashi to prepare for the Southern African Development Summit in Mauritius.
Kabila apparently expects the DRC crisis to be discussed there. An SADC official said the conflict would indeed be discussed, but the meeting would not be a mediation session. The rebels are not invited to Grande Baie, as the SADC summit is “only for sovereign states”.