A conference aimed at ending conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was prolonged on Monday as rival sides sought agreement, organisers said.
The gathering at a university in Goma, the main town of Nord-Kivu province near some of the conflict zones, was due to end on Monday, but its president, Apollinaire Malu Malu, said another day would be needed.
”We are in the final phase before resolutions are set down and a commitment is made by the armed groups,” Malu Malu, a Roman Catholic priest, said, adding that more talks were being held.
More than 1 000 people from Nord- and Sud-Kivu have been in Goma since January 6, with the assistance of the United Nations Mission in the DRC (Monuc), in a bid to end fighting between the army and rebel groups, which has led to one million people fleeing their homes.
Participants have agreed that they want to re-establish state authority in both provinces, and several recommendations have been hammered out by working groups focusing on specific issues.
However, major disagreements exist between rival armed sides in Nord-Kivu, in particular the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), led by ex-general Laurent Nkunda, and the self-defence militias of the Mai Mai tribes.
On Monday, a committee of elders at the conference, chaired by National Assembly Speaker Vital Kamerhe, met representatives of the CNDP and Mai Mai groups to try to settle these differences.
The fighting in Kivu has extended at considerable economic and humanitarian cost a vaster war since 2003 that has embroiled the huge Central African nation, with foreign African armies drawn in on the rival sides.
Delegates at the peace conference include members of ethnic communities who have taken turns to express grievances and aspirations, professional and business bodies, and representatives of the local and foreign armed forces in the region.
The latter include Rwandan Hutus in the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which initially set up in eastern DRC in 1994 when a mainly Tutsi rebel force took power in Rwanda and ended a genocide in that neighbouring country.
Congolese participants at the Goma meeting want these people repatriated to Rwanda, though many have settled in fertile parts of Kivu and played no part in the mass slaughter.
A Congolese Tutsi, Nkunda claims to be protecting his fellows against other ethnic groups and the FDLR, who are estimated by the United Nations to include about 6 000 fighters.
Kigali accuses some of the rebels of taking part in the April to July 1994 genocide, which the UN says resulted in about 800 000 mostly Tutsi dead.
Rwanda denies accusations that it is supporting Nkunda’s 4 000 men against government troops in Nord-Kivu.
Nkunda is based in Nord-Kivu highlands and is wanted by Kinshasa for war crimes he had allegedly committed. The Mai Mai refuse to disarm until the CNDP does and strongly reject any proposed amnesty for Nkunda and other CNDP leaders.
CNDP delegates have insisted on the repatriation of Rwandan Hutus and guarantees that the army will not seek their backing or that of the Mai Mai against Nkunda’s troops. They also want Congolese Tutsis in exile repatriated.
”We have made progress,” CNDP military spokesperson Seraphin Mirindi said on Monday. ”We are waiting to harmonise matters in the plenary session this afternoon.” — AFP
