Paris | Wednesday
THE Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will have to be reunified and at peace before its people can enjoy democratic rights, President Joseph Kabila said in an interview published in Paris on Wednesday.
Kabila, who took power a year ago following the assassination of his father Laurent Kabila, told Le Figaro daily that he had ”always intended to organise elections”.
”One day the Congolese people must finally choose their leaders.
(But) before organising such elections, we have to reunify the Congo. It is impossible to imagine an election in a place where half the territory is occupied by foreign forces. The war must cease and the foreign troops must leave,” he said.
”As for me. I will be a candidate when the time comes, if that is the wish of the Congolese people,” said the 30-year-old Kabila.
War broke out in the DRC in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda invaded the country to back up rebels against the government, whose troops were supported by Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia. Burundi also backed the rebels.
The complex conflict, which has allowed foreign armies to exploit the country’s rich mineral resources, has left 2,5-million people dead, according to a US-based humanitarian organisation.
A fragile ceasefire is now taking hold, although foreign governments have maintained their troops.
”2002 will be decisive,” Kabila told the French newspaper.
”We have to reinstall peace and dignity. There has been some progress. The UN peace force has been deployed, We have begun inter-Congolese dialogue this month. But without Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi there would be no rebels in Congo,” he said.
Concerning the murder of his father, killed by one of his own bodyguards, Kabila said those responsible would be tried this month, without giving their identities. – Sapa-AFP