Own CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Thursday 10.30PM.
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe snatched the limelight on the final day of the Non-Aligned Movement’s 12th summit in Durban on Thursday, announcing that peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo is imminent and that a meeting of all warring parties will be held within three days.
His statement followed a breakfast workshop of Southern African leaders called by United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan and hosted by President Nelson Mandela. The peace talks are expected to take place on Monday and Tuesday at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, although the location has not yet been confirmed.
Mugabe, whose troops along with those of Namibia and Angola, are supporting DRC President Laurent Kabila against rebels seeking to topple him, justified military intervention by saying if they had failed to act, the DRC’s legitimate goverment would have been ousted.
“In the short term what we would want to see is that those who are on the side of say, the rebels, and those on the side of the government of Kabila — that is, the allies — meet to discuss the terms of peace,” Mugabe said.
Responding to the developments at the summit, Arthur Zahidi Ngoma, the second vice president of the rebels’ political wing, said on Thursday that the rebels would agree to negotiations but only if they “allow us to achieve our goals”.
Asked whether the rebels would participate in the talks Monday, Ngoma replied: “Our presence is essential. If you want to settle an internal problem in Congo, you naturally must take into account our existence.”
The rebels also said on Thursday that they want to make their “liberated territories” a showpiece of good management. “We want to organise our provinces and show what we’re capable of,” Bizima Karaha, formerly Kabila’s foreign minister and now “foreign minister” for the rebels, said in Goma on Thursday.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in his address to the NAM summit said he was willing to review the presence of his troops in the DRC. “We can review the presence of these troops by mutual discussion, especially if alternative arrangements are made,” he said without elaborating.