Kabila says he is prepared to work toward peace

January 24, 2000
Web posted at: 8:23 p.m. EST (0123 GMT)

In this story: Widening civil war Shaky accord 'Lusaka-Plus' Annan proposes peacekeeping force RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- At a U.N. Security Council meeting Monday on the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright asked African leaders to help stop what she called "Africa's first world war."

"The continent cannot hope to meet the aspirations of its people until this war is history," Albright said. The warring sides signed a cease-fire accord in Lusaka, Zambia, last July but fighting continues, especially in areas rich in diamonds.

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"The most disturbing aspect of the conflict in the Congo has been the horrific abuse of fundamental human rights by all sides," Albright said. "We have even heard credible reports recently of women being buried alive in eastern Congo. There is no rationale of past grievance, political allegiance, or ethnic difference that excuses murder, torture, rape or other abuse."

The Security Council is considering sending a peacekeeping force to the central African country.

The United States, which would have to pay a third of the cost of a peacekeeping force, has been reluctant to send a force as long as fighting persists. Meanwhile, France has said that a complete cease-fire could not be achieved without international troops.

Monday's meeting ends a month of public debates on Africa organized by U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, this month's president of the 15-member Security Council.

Widening civil war

The Congo's civil war involves 10,000 troops from Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia supporting Congo President Laurent Kabila against rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda.

In 1997, Kabila overthrew dictator Mobuto Sese Seko, promising reform in what was then Zaire. Kabila later renamed the country the Democratic Republic of Congo.

His undoing lay in promises never kept and the expulsion of ethnic Tutsis who he feared. The Tutsis ultimately rebelled, eventually gaining control of a large portion of the country.

Kabila widened the war, seeking help from neighboring Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Shaky accord

The monumental task before the council was evident Monday when Kabila said the Lusaka cease-fire accord was "deadlocked," while Zambian President Frederick Chiluba said it is still working.

But Chiluba, who mediated the Lusaka accord, said one major problem in implementing it was a lack of funds for the Joint Military Commission supervising it.

In his remarks, Kabila demanded the immediate withdrawal of Rwandan and Ugandan troops, but said he was prepared to work toward peace.

"Although history has not always been kind to my country, we are a people ... who know how to forgive," he said. "And I am here today once again to offer my hand of reconciliation to those that have done us harm."

'Lusaka-Plus'

U.S. officials say they are pushing both sides to agree to a "Lusaka-Plus" accord that would reaffirm what was agreed to last year, but take into account the changed situation on the ground. The present Lusaka accord calls for a cease-fire, the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers and the withdrawal of troops from other African nations.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the Lusaka agreement was the most viable blueprint for resolving the conflict. The warring parties "need to demonstrate the political will to apply the agreement fully, without further delay," he said.

Annan proposes peacekeeping force

Annan proposed last week the deployment of more than 5,000 troops to protect 500 unarmed U.N. military observers, of which only 79 have been deployed. He indicated in a report to the council that the initial intervention could set the stage for a much larger, more costly operation.

The proposed force would return U.N. troops to a country that brought the world body close to political collapse four decades ago and cost the life of Dag Hammarskjold, its second secretary-general, in a plane crash on his way to peace talks. Some 20,000 international troops intervened in the early 1960s, with 250 fatalities.

Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth, Johannesburg Bureau Chief Charlayne Hunter-Gault, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.