Sprawling on a gold lacquered sofa, bags under his eyes and sandals on his feet, Congo’s young and tired leader says he will do what he can to press his nation’s interminable war to a close: Sign
peace deals. Open peace talks.
But trusting any side in Congo’s war to carry out peace pledges this time – after years of signing and trashing them – is another matter, President Joseph Kabila acknowledged.
”’Trust’ is a heavy word to use for nations that have been at war for the last four years,” the 31-year-old Kabila told The Associated Press ahead of committing to an ambitious new peace pact
with cross-border enemy Rwanda.
”We can’t get rid of them and they can’t get rid of us. We are condemned to live as neighbors,” Kabila concluded.
The Congo leader confirmed he would travel to South Africa to sign a new accord on Tuesday with Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
The signing would set the clock ticking on a 90-day plan for pulling Rwanda’s army out of Congo and for disarming Congo-based militias that threaten Rwanda’s security.
Speaking to AP in his family home, the former
summer villa of the Belgian royals who once ruled Congo, Kabila said he then intends to reopen peace talks with Rwandan-backed rebels.
”We have extended our hand,” Kabila said. ”We expect them to extend their hand as well.”
With Congo, Rwanda and Rwanda-backed rebels stand as the chief unreconciled combatants in Congo’s 4-year-old war.
Called Africa’s first world war, the conflict has drawn in the armies of seven nations, divided the nation, and killed an estimated 2,5-million people.
The war started in August 1998 when neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda joined Congolese rebels in a full-scale offensive to overthrow Kabila’s father, Laurent.
Rwanda accused Laurent Kabila of harboring Rwandan Hutu militias, which had fled to Congo to escape retribution for the 1994 genocide of a half-million Rwandans.
Uganda, Angola and Burundi all likewise wanted to shut down rebel groups operating from exile in the wilds of east Congo.
An inept despot, Laurent Kabila quickly lost control of the north and east of his country to the Rwanda- and Uganda-backed rebels.
Laurent Kabila held on to the rest of the country only thanks to Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, which deployed their own armies into Congo in Kabila’s defence.
Laurent Kabila signed accords but never made any attempt to fulfill them. When a young bodyguard assassinated the jowly Congo leader at his desk in January 2001, son Joseph Kabila was the only
successor upon whom his father’s powerful friends could agree.
Peace efforts have picked up under Joseph Kabila, who grew up in English-speaking Tanzania, well away from the troubles of Congo.
With the chief exception of Rwanda, foreign nations since Joseph Kabila’s advent have either pulled out or markedly scaled back their military presence in Congo.
Uganda-backed rebels earlier this year signed a power-sharing deal with Kabila’s government, although it has yet to be implemented.
South African-led mediation and international pressure on Rwanda led to Tuesday’s planned peace pact – the first to address root causes of the war directly and in detail.
Joseph Kabila – who started traveling abroad to lobby for US and European support just 10 days after coming to power – said foreign pressure could make a difference this time.
”We have more international diplomatic support than before,” Kabila said.
”I am an optimist. Although I always leave room for pessimism,” he added.
When fighting ends, Kabila’s government is proposing a
transitional power-sharing government for a reunited Congo.
His government’s transition plan would keep him as president and give vice presidencies to leaders of the Rwandan – and Ugandan-backed rebels.
Kabila has pledged to lead Congo to what would be its first democratic government since independence from Belgium in 1960s. He made clear in the interview that he intends to run in post-war elections.
But Kabila still has a war to end, and a country to unite, and has yet to prove himself to Congo’s people. Many in Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, nicknamed him ”The Child” when he came to power just one-and-a-half years ago.
Kabila spoke during the interview in both English and French, the latter – the main language of Congo – fluently but somewhat shyly.
Vestiges of his outsider status here linger. He jogs through Kinshasa’s streets for 30 minutes every morning with his bodyguards – but doesn’t know the name of the Kinshasa district in which he lives.
Congo power and politics fell his way only unexpectedly, as the youthful Kabila made his way in the straightforward and physical world of army commander under his authoritative father. Prominent, bloated pouches under his eyes hinted at the toll of the responsibility.
”I’m tired,” Kabila confided wearily. ”I’m always tired.” – Sapa-AP