Kabila reaches out to world community

It was "a high time the forces of Rwanda and Uganda left the Congo," Kabila said in an interview with CNN

(CNN) -- Just days after being sworn in, Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila is meeting with world leaders, discussing how to end the fighting in his war-torn country. While in the United States, he spoke with Inside Africa's Jim Clancy about the chance for peace and what it will take to implement the Lusaka Accord.

Jim Clancy: You've been to Washington, Europe delivering a message.. What is the message and how is it being received?

President Joseph Kabila: The message is that the problem is peace at all price and that the government is committed to finding all the necessary ways to achieving that objective which is peace and I believe the reception has been very positive.

Jim Clancy: You also met with Rwanda's president Paul Kagome. Did that meeting encourage your hopes for peace?

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President Joseph Kabila: Yes it was a 30-minute meeting. I can't say it encouraged my message of peace, but I made it clear that it was a high time the forces of Rwanda and Uganda left the Congo.

Jim Clancy: You have heard it said that President Joseph kabila is too young, too inexperienced but lets turn that around a little bit. what is your understanding of what the young people of the Congo want?

President Joseph Kabila: What the people of the Congo want is to their country at peace -- is to see the government committed to that peace which like I said we are -- and from there onwards they will decide the future or the future tracks that we have to follow.

Jim Clancy: No one can lecture you about the diversity of the Congo but certainly it's fair to ask how you plan to bring in that diversity, not only to govern but to share in the wealth of the country.

President Joseph Kabila: Of course it's not an easy task but we are committed to doing it. We've talked of the inter Congolese dialogue which is supposed to take place anytime soon and its the framework, the base from where we'll start and look at what the future holds for the Congo as Congolese.

Jim Clancy: When you talk about an inter-Congolese dialogue do you mean bringing in the people not only the political opposition groups whose parties have banned but also bringing in some of the people who have been in the rebel groups sitting down with all of them?

President Joseph Kabila: Precisely, all the Congolese people have to participate and see what framework they have or what base they have to build in order to decide the future of the country.

Jim Clancy: In your inaugural address, you spoke about the sacrifice that your father made for his country. How do you, his son and successor, plan to honor that?

President Joseph Kabila: The only way I and the people of the Congo can honor that is by finding a permanent solution to the war going on. Of course part of that solution is to see that the integrity of the Congo is guaranteed.

Jim Clancy: You stated during your visit that you wanted to restart the Lusaka peace accord and one of the questions that remains is whether you see that those accords nave to be changed, modified in some way before they can be implemented.

President Joseph Kabila: I believe that the Lusaka peace accords have got their positive and negative aspects. The Lusaka peace accords were signed in '99 and up to now nothing significant has come out of it. We've got negative aspects from the accord. In that the enemy, the Rwandans and the Ugandans took advantage of those peace accord and tried to gain more territory so its something that has to be renegotiated.

Jim Clancy: Do you see the security problem that the president of Rwanda sees, the one from the interahamwe militias and other ex-Rwandan military people accused of genocide in that country. They have now been armed not only by Kinshasa but by your allies, Zimbabwe and others. Do you agree there is a security threat and that too must be addressed?

President Joseph Kabila: I don't think that the Congo or Zimbabwe armed any militias in the Congo. What I can say is that the security problem of Rwanda was not brought about by any Congolese nor Congolese citizen ever went to Rwanda, ever committed any massacres in Rwanda. This is a transportation of the war from Rwanda into the Congo and those who are paying the price for that are the Congolese people..and not the Rwandans so a permanent solution has to be found to that particular contradiction.

Jim Clancy: It is a contradiction. The big question is with the Lusaka accord and you talked about the positive and the negative, is whether you require or you want to see Rwanda pull out before they have what they see as legitimate national security or whether you implement help them everyone help each other to implement security before there is a pullout.

President Joseph Kabila: I believe Rwanda has a role to play, the Congo has a role to play, just as much as the international community especially the UN has a role to play in finding a solution to that particular contradiction.

Jim Clancy: Will you work with former Botswana president, Ketumile Masire?

President Joseph Kabila: Masire, who is supposed to be the facilitator in the inter-Congolese dialogue, is and can be able to work in the Congo as long as he sticks to the rules that guide the inter Congolese dialogue.

Jim Clancy: Did you discuss that with Kofi Annan?

President Joseph Kabila: No, that was not part of the points that I discussed with the secretary general.

Jim Clancy: At the outset we talked about how you are perceived as young and inexperienced. I want to know what is the side of Joseph Kabila that the world and even the people of Congo don't know and should?

President Joseph Kabila: Its my commitment to peace -- maybe the part that not everybody knows -- the commitment to peace, to the development of the Congo as one nation.

Jim Clancy: You know that right now, the Rwandans, the South Africans are talking about a conference that will bring the main parties in central Africa together, will you participate?

President Joseph Kabila: I will be ready to participate in any meeting that will bring an end to the war in the Congo. But, of course, the very many other initiatives and as I was telling the secretary general we have to channel those initiatives in order to get positive results

Jim Clancy: Many people are watching you very carefully, watching to see how you might be the same or different from your father... are they going to be disappointed or are they going to be surprised?

President Joseph Kabila: I don't think anybody will be disappointed but only time will tell.

Jim Clancy: What do you see as the next step, the crucial step, that must be taken? You have certainly stood up and said you want to work for peace. There are some conditions here, at the same time others are also standing up saying they want to move ahead. What must everyone on all sides do to move this forward to the next stage?

President Joseph Kabila: We must first of all of us agree, each and everyone who wants to work for peace, that the countries that invaded the Congo must leave the Congo. That will be the first major step which will bring about change in the attitude from the Congolese people towards the conception of peace.

Jim Clancy: When the people of Congo look on and see this, perhaps unable to watch TV, there are 3,000,000 of them who have been displaced in these 30 months of conflicts in the second civil war in the Congo, do you have any message for them and how long they must wait to see all of these sorted out?

President Joseph Kabila: How long depends on the good will of each and everyone involved in the conflict. My message to them could be they should never loose courage. They should continue to believe in their country as one country and one day soon the changes they want to see will be there.

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