African Union chairperson Jakaya Kikwete on Sunday said he was involved in intensive diplomatic efforts ahead of a summit next week in Nairobi on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
”It is our hope the Nairobi meeting later next week will come out with the road map on the way forward,” Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe told reporters.
He was quoting Kikwete after the Tanzanian president held talks with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and his British counterpart, David Miliband, on the crisis in the DRC.
”The AU is seriously concerned over the latest developments and wants warring parties in the DRC to implement last Wednesday’s ceasefire in line with the Nairobi and Goma accords,” Membe said.
A ceasefire declared on Wednesday by rebel leader Laurent Nkunda’s movement following the retreat of government forces in eastern DRC has so far held, triggering intense Western diplomatic activity aimed at containing the crisis.
On Saturday, the pair of European envoys held talks with Congolese President Joseph Kabila, toured areas affected by the crisis in eastern DRC and held talks with Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
The framework to stem the violence in the eastern provinces and disarm militias is contained in the January Goma agreement and the November 2007 Nairobi declaration.
The Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group suggested on Saturday that the United Nations should appoint a special envoy to monitor their implementation and ensure that past diplomatic efforts were not in vain.
Membe said Kikwete had recently been in contact with Kabila and Kagame, as well as Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki over the spiralling situation in the DRC.
A Kagame envoy was expected in Dar es Salaam on Monday, while Kabila was to send his on Tuesday to lay the ground for the Nairobi summit.
No date has yet been confirmed for the Nairobi summit, seen as key step in defusing the crisis by bringing Kabila and Kagame to the same table. — AFP
