Kabila to accept U.N. troops in the Congo

LUSAKA, Zambia (Reuters) -- Laurent Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has agreed to give security guarantees to allow the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers, Zambian President Frederick Chiluba said on Wednesday.

"President Kabila has said that it will be done," Chiluba, the chief Congo mediator, told a news briefing.

The United Nations wants the Kabila administration to pledge safety and freedom of movement for U.N. troops and personnel and fully comply with a cease-fire agreement signed in Lusaka a year ago.

MESSAGE BOARD Congo peace

Western diplomats had said Kabila was under intense pressure to back down on two key points holding up the peace accord -- his reluctance to provide the required security guarantees and his refusal to work with former Botswanan President Ketumile Masire, the organizer of all-party internal talks on the political destiny of the Congo.

"The only sticking point is the question of Sir Ketumile Masire," Chiluba told reporters.

"What we are looking for is a breakthrough in internal dialogue. We've got to ensure that internal dialogue starts. Kabila agrees with this but differs on Masire," he said.

Chiluba said Kabila and the splintered rebel groups backed by Rwanda and Uganda had agreed to meet to discuss cease-fire violations. He would not say when or where such a meeting would take place, or when he had spoken to Kabila.

Doubts about sanctions

Chiluba, who emerged from the failed summit in Lusaka on Tuesday claiming that Kabila would face sanctions if he did not fall into line, backed away from the threat on Wednesday and said sanctions had not been discussed at the summit.

However, he confirmed analysts' views that Kabila stood alone in his protest against Masire, the unanimous choice of the 14-member Southern African Development Community, saying that Tuesday's communique on the talks had made that very clear.

"In this connection, the summit, with the exception of the Democratic Republic of Congo government, reaffirmed its full support for the facilitator Ketumile Masire. In the light of this, the DRC government was asked to reconsider its decision," said the communique issued after the SADC summit Tuesday.

The communique also said the SADC "appealed" to Kabila's government to meet the necessary requirements to allow the deployment of U.N. troops, but made no mention of any concessions by or agreement with Kabila from the summit.

Western diplomats said Kabila was isolated after the summit, during which his key backers -- Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and Namibia President Sam Nujoma -- told him the time had come to move forward.

"SADC leaders read Kabila the riot act," a Western ambassador told Reuters.

"Mugabe, Nujoma and (South African President Thabo) Mbeki were particularly stern and said their patience was running out. One of them said Kabila could no longer be allowed to hold the SADC region to ransom," the ambassador said.

Zimbabwe has sent 15,000 troops, tanks and warplanes to support Kabila's government. Angola and Namibia have sent smaller numbers of troops to help Kabila fight a rebellion that has just entered its third year.

Rebels control much of the east and north of his country, Africa's third largest.

The United Nations agreed in February to send 500 cease-fire observers and 5,500 troops to protect them but has put the plans on hold because Kabila has refused to let them go to areas he controls.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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