OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lusaka | Saturday 5.30pm.
A ROW over who leads a key rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Saturday delayed the start of the ratification in Kinshasa of a ceasefire deal to end the war in the former Zaire.
The signing ceremony had been due to open at 10:00 am (08:00 GMT) but had not yet done so some six hours later.
The delay has caused President Thabo Mbeki’s to miss his scheduled return to South Africa. Mbeki was due to return home at 2pm, which was pushed back to 4pm. However, with the dispute still unsettled, it was not known when he would return.
Diplomats said one faction of the divided Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) refused to enter the event’s venue because the movement’s founding leader, Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, was sitting in the seat reserved for the DRC’s official representative.
The faction in question recently announced Wambia dia Wamba’s ouster from the DRC leadership, a move he rejected outright.
The faction has been strongly opposed to his involvement in the event.
The accord is due to be signed by the six countries involved in the war: the DRC itself, its allies Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia and by Rwanda and Uganda, who back rebels fighting President Laurent Kabila.
Jean-Pierre Bemba, the leader of the Congolese Liberation Movement, another rebel group, said Friday he would not sign the deal unless Wamba dia Wamba was also invited to do so.
Mbeki is scheduled to leave for Algiers on Sunday morning to attend the annual heads of state summit of the Organisation of African Unity.
12.30pm:
AS African leaders were gathering in the Zambian capital Lusaka on Saturday to sign a ceasefire agreement in the 11-month-old Democratic Republic of Congo conflict, a key player has expressed doubts if the ceasefire will be effectively applied.
The peace pact is due to be signed by the heads of state of the six countries involved in the war — the DRC, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Uganda and Rwanda — as well as rebel leaders.
The ceremony will be witnessed by several other African presidents and representatives from the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).
But Rwandan strongman Paul Kagame has expressed his doubts. In an interview to be published in Monday’s edition of Der Spiegel, the vice president and defence minister said he had little faith in the United Nations, which the accord calls on to play a key peacekeeping role in the former Zaire. — AFP