Congo and Rwanda Agree on Peace Deal

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, July 23, 2002

Congo and Rwanda Agree on Peace Deal

Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo struck a deal on Monday aimed at ending four years of war in the Congo, officials said.

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Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo struck a deal on Monday aimed at ending four years of war in the Congo, officials said.

Delegates from the two countries have been meeting in the South African capital Pretoria since Thursday to try to resolve the conflict which has killed an estimated two million people since 1998, mostly from starvation and disease.

"We have reached an understanding and agreement at a technical stage," said South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who chaired the talks.

A Rwandan government official told Reuters in the Kenyan capital Nairobi the two sides had signed a memorandum of understanding restating their commitment to the Lusaka peace agreement of 1999.

The Democratic Republic of Congo agreed to track down ex-Rwandan army soldiers (Ex-FAR) and Hutu 'Interahamwe' militia within the territory it controls in collaboration with the U.N. Mission in the Congo, the official said.

Rwanda blames the ex-soldiers and extremist Hutu militias for the slaughter of some 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994 and has accused Congo of harboring them.

For its part, Rwanda pledged to withdraw its troops from the Congo once effective measures had been undertaken to address its security concerns. Addressing those security concerns involved the dismantling of ex-FAR and Interahamwe.

The official said the Congo, Rwanda and South Africa had agreed to urge the United Nations to consider changing the mandate of the Congo mission to a full peacekeeping mission.

They agreed an elaborate timetable for the implementation of the deal, which could see Rwanda start pulling out its troops within a maximum of 90 days from the date the deal is signed.

Congo's war erupted when rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda took up arms against the government, which has the support of troops from Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia. Rwanda backs the largest rebel group.

Source: Agencies

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