Abubakar heads to Congo, says world tired of wars

LUSAKA, Zambia (Reuters) -- Nigeria's former military ruler arrived in Zambia on Monday en route to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to drive home to President Laurent Kabila that cooperation with the United Nations is essential.

General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who is chairman of the Commonwealth Observer Group, is travelling as a special envoy of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

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The tough-talking general told reporters at Lusaka airport that the international donor community had lost patience with Africa because of persistent bloodletting and it was up to Africans to redeem themselves.

Annan appointed Abubakar special envoy to the Congo last week and his mandate is to help clear up misunderstandings between Kabila and the U.N., hopefully leading to a quick deployment of U.N. troops in Africa's third largest country.

"You have to tell the belligerents and everybody to give peace a chance so we can move forward," Abubakar said.

"Africa has a lot of this bloodletting. It is high time...to join hands and give our people the peace and prosperity they deserve.

"The world, the donors are getting tired of us. It is high time we took our destiny in our own hands," Abubakar said.

Abubakar will hold talks with Zambian President Frederick Chiluba, the Congo chief mediator, and will also visit Addis Ababa to see officials of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

Abubakar will visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Tuesday and deliver a message to Kabila from Annan.

Abubakar to make U.N. position clear

U.N. officials in New York said the former Nigerian ruler is to make clear once more the position of the U.N. Security Council and the role of the United Nations Organization Mission to the Congo (MONUC).

This includes a ceasefire, freedom of movement for U.N. personnel and "full participation" in a political dialogue among all Congolese factions.

Fighting in the Congo began two years ago with rebels backed by Rwanda and Ugandan troops trying to topple Kabila, who is supported by troops from Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia.

The Rwanda-Uganda alliance fell apart, with each country backing rival rebel groups, which control most of the east and part of the north of Africa's third largest nation.

Abubakar was the last military head of state in Nigeria. In May 1999, he handed over power to an elected civilian government after 15 years of rule by different military regimes.

On Friday, a transitional parliament set up by Kabila in the Congolese city of Lubumbashi said the Lusaka ceasefire pact had been overtaken by events. It called for a self-defense force to fight invading foreign forces.

Kabila has refused to participate in a political dialogue with rebels and other groups and recently said U.N. peacekeepers could not go to areas under his control.

African heads of state met in Zambia last week but failed to agree on measures to revive the Lusaka peace accords mainly because of Kabila's refusal to cooperate.

The United Nations last year considered a major peacekeeping operation of 5,500 observers guarded by troops and transport personnel. Deployment was conditional on security guarantees for the troops and so far only 264 military observers and about 25 international staff have been sent.

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