Zambia says Kabila will attend summit on Congo

LUSAKA, Zambia (Reuters) -- Zambian President Frederick Chiluba said on Wednesday that Democratic Republic of the Congo leader Laurent Kabila would attend a summit in Lusaka next week called to try to revive a crumbling peace pact for his country.

"President Kabila was positive. He will attend the summit." Chiluba told reporters at Lusaka airport after returning from a meeting with Kabila earlier in the day in the southeastern Congo city of Lubumbashi.

"Kabila says he is for peace. he has never told me that he believes this conflict will be ended through war," Chiluba added.

Kabila snubbed the annual summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Namibia on Monday, where the war in the former Zaire was on the agenda.

But SADC leaders called a special meeting on the conflict for August 14 in the Zambian capital. Chiluba then flew to Lubumbashi on Wednesday to urge Kabila not to skip the summit.

"I have also got assurances from the leaders of Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Uganda that they will attend," Chiluba said.

Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe have been sucked into the Congo war in support of Kabila, while former allies Rwanda and Uganda back the splintered rebel groups.

Chiluba said he would telephone Rwandan President Paul Kagame to confirm that he would also be present next week.

U.N. officials say they have been ready to deploy troops in the vast African country since February, but Kabila has not met conditions required for such an operation.

Last month, U.N. special envoy Kamel Morjane told Reuters prospects for peace in the Congo were remote and said the United Nations wanted African leaders to try to resolve the impasse.

The U.N. Security Council is due to review its mission in the Congo on August 24 and is expected to extend its mandate. However, African diplomats said the extension would be useless if no guarantees on safety emerged from Kabila.

African impatience with Kabila is mounting fast.

Speaking in Blantyre on returning from the Namibia summit on Tuesday, Malawi President Bakili Muluzi spoke of deep frustration among SADC leaders over Kabila's refusal to attend regional summits where his country is part of the agenda.

"SADC leaders hope to meet Kabila in Lusaka because he just sent (junior) delegations to previous meetings. He was not in Mozambique last year and skipped Namibia this week. We hope he will be in Lusaka," Muluzi said.

In Lusaka on Tuesday, Chiluba said: "I feel like a punch bag for peace while the belligerents are the boxers. I hope my brothers will see the need for peace so we can move forward."

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