/ 3 May 1999

CHILUBA REJECTS SIRTE ACCORD

ZAMBIAN President Frederick Chiluba on Wednesday dismissed a peace agreement for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) brokered in Libya, telling a press conference in Kigali that it ”amounts to nothing.” Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and Chad are supporting President Laurent Kabila’s forces in the DRC — although Chad announced Friday it was withdrawing its 1,000 or so soldiers — while Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi support rebels who launched an uprising last August. Kabila and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed a ceasefire agreement on April 18 in the Libyan town of Sirte, but the fighting is continuing. ”The real peace process (initiated by the Southern African Development Community) is the one that Zambia chairs,” Chiluba said during his one-day visit to the Rwandan capital.