/ 13 June 1999

DRC REBEL GROUPS DISCUSSING PEACE SUMMIT

THE three rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday began a third day of talks in a bid to harmonise their positions ahead of a regional peace summit due to be held in Lusaka later this month. Attending the talks are representatives of the Ugandan and Rwandan governments, who back the rebels, as well as neutral Tanzania, which is aiding diplomatic efforts to end the 10-month-old war. The chief rebel representatives are Bizima Karaha, representing the Congolese Rally for Democracy faction headed by Emile Ilunga, Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, who heads the other RCD faction, and the Ugandan-backed leader of the Congo Liberation Movement, Jean-Pierre Bemba.