Defense chiefs weigh Congo disengagement plan

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- Defense chiefs from countries involved in the war in Democratic Republic of Congo met in Harare on Tuesday to discuss a timetable for withdrawal from front-line positions.

The one-day meeting was being held against a backdrop of renewed fighting that saw rebels battling President Laurent Kabila capture another government-held town, triggering another exodus of refugees.

IN-DEPTH SPECIAL Counting the dead in Congo     ALSO Zimbabwe troops, refugees flee Congo fighting U.N.: Up to 60,000 flee southern Congo fighting for Zambia

Zimbabwe Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge, who chairs a committee on the implementation of a ceasefire agreement signed in Lusaka in 1999 to end the now 29-month-old war, urged defense chiefs on Tuesday to sign plans drafted by the panel last month.

They commit all parties involved in the conflict to pull back their forces in Congo at least 15 km (nine miles). "It is my expectation...that your discussions today will not dwell on the sub-plans as presented but rather that you will focus your attention and energies on elaborating and agreeing on the calendar of their implementation," Mudenge said.

"You have the relatively easy but particularly important duty of signing them today. For without your signatures, the sub-plans cannot be implemented."

On Monday a spokesman for the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) said rebel fighters and their Rwandan allies had captured Pweto in a battle that ended late on Sunday.

Aid agencies in Nairobi said thousands of refugees were fleeing the war zone and in the last 24 hours alone some 10,000 people had arrived in the Zambian border town of Chiengi.

All sides involved in the conflict signed the Lusaka accord and reaffirmed their commitment to it at a summit in Mozambique last month. But each has repeatedly accused the other of launching fresh attacks in violation of the deal.

The war, which broke out in August 1998, pits a rebel alliance backed by Rwanda and Uganda against Kabila's army which is supported by Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia.

Mudenge urged the U.N. mission in Congo to quickly assume the supervision and verification of the disengagement and redeployment process once the agreement was signed.

"Speed is of the essence in order to put this process firmly on track," he said.

The United Nations has fielded a small force of military observers but is waiting for the fighting to subside before dispatching peacekeeping troops.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than 1.5 million displaced in the war in Africa's third largest nation.

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

See related sites about Africa

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.