OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Tuesday 9.30PM.
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe has arrived in Durban for the Non-Aligned Movement summit, after there was some doubt about whether he would attend.
Angolan President Eduaro Jos dos Santos, Namibian President Sam Nujoma, as well as the leaders of Rwanda and Uganda are also here, meaning that all the key players in the Democratic Republic of Congo conflict — apart from DRC President Laurent Kabila himself — are at the summit. Kabila may arrive, but thus far has said he is “too busy” to attend.
South African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki said on Tuesday that he was confident of a ceasefire in the DRC in the very near future. He denied that there was any friction between South Africa and Mugabe.
SABC3 reported that Mugabe may be forced to consider a political soution in the DRC because he does not have the funds to support Zimbabwe’s involvement. Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia have all sent troops to assist Kabila against a powerful rebellion attempting to topple him.
An Angolan foreign ministry official in Luanda said earlier on Tuesday that having secured the western of the DRC from the coast to Kinshasa, and with it Angolan interests there, Angola considered its mission in the DRC “over” and expected a ceasefire soon.
An unexpected press conference was held at the summit by a council of elders calling itself the Federal Council of the DRC, who were let in by mistake. The group offered to set up a caretaker government while solutions to the conflict are negotiated.
DRC Justice Minsiter Munezil Kongolo, in Durban for the summit, told reporters he was not aware of the existence of the council. He said that the DRC government is “not even close to a ceasefire” and would not consider one until foreign “aggressors” – meaning Rwanda and Uganda – had withdrawn from the country.