OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Saturday 6.30pm.
PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki met on Saturday with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni for talks that were believed to focus on the situation in Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
A South African presidential spokeswoman said the meeting was expected to last most of Saturday, but revealed only that it concerned the DRC peace process.
“The discussion is part of an ongoing dialogue on the peace process in the DRC,” Tasneem Carrim said, adding: “No further details about the contents of the talks are available.”
But the northeastern DRC city of Kisangani was the likely focus of their talks, according to observers.
South Africa has been asked to contribute to a UN peacekeeping force for the town, a strategic diamond center, from which Ugandan and Rwandan soldiers have reportedly begun to withdraw following fierce clashes last week.
The erstwhile allies, who back rebel units opposed to the DRC regime of President Laurent Kabila, traded artillery and heavy machine gun fire for six days, killing at least 160 civilians and wounding more than 1000.
South Africa is also to deploy 120 soldiers in the DRC capital Kinshasa, mainly in technical and logistical roles.
Following his talks with Mbeki, Museveni is to honor private engagements in the country before returning to Uganda, according to a statement from Mbeki’s office. –AFP