Annan urges DR of Congo, Rwanda to put peace agreement into action

Hailing the recent peace accord between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged the parties to take the necessary steps to put the agreement into action.

Speaking at the outset of an open Security Council meeting on the DRC, the Secretary-General called the agreement, signed in Pretoria on 30 July, "an important political milestone, which could help pave the way towards a lasting resolution of one of Africa's most complex conflicts."

He stressed that the international community must provide all necessary support for the accord, adding that he has instructed the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC) to determine what actions it can take within its current mandate and resources to help the parties carry out the agreement.

"However, the parties need to be perfectly clear in the tasks to be performed, and provide the necessary information, in order for MONUC to define its specific role," he cautioned.

The Secretary-General also welcomed the presence in the Council of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the Foreign Minister of South Africa, which helped to broker the agreement, Foreign Minister Leonard She Okitundu of the DRC, and Rwanda's Special Envoy for the DRC, Patrick Mazimhaka.

"I look forward to a very serious dialogue, not only here in the Council, but also with various UN departments," Mr. Annan said. "I think this reflects the value of the new partnership between the African Union and the United Nations.

In her remarks to the Council, Ms. Zuma said the Pretoria agreement was at the centre of the peace process and signalled the strong political will of both sides to expedite reconciliation. She stressed the importance of supporting and encouraging the agreement's implementation, adding that it would be wrong for peace-loving nations to be less than enthusiastic about recent events. The Foreign Minister also noted that the agreement should be seen as a complement to the 1999 Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, stemming from the recognition that progress towards establishing peace in the region could not be achieved without resolving the conflict between the DRC and Rwanda.

For his part, Mr. Okitundu said the Congolese Government had undertaken to implement faithfully its obligations regarding the disarmament, demobilization, reintegration, reunification and repatriation process. He also highlighted the need for a new concept of operations for MONUC that would support both the verification mechanism and allow the execution structure to be put in place by the third party under the Pretoria agreement. The Council must redefine the Mission's operations to reflect recent developments.

Mr. Mazimhaka said the Pretoria agreement provided solutions to what had up to now been intractable problems in the Lusaka accord by addressing the two core issues that had plagued both sides: how to resolve the problem of the Interahamwe, and the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Congolese territory. He expressed the hope that the Council saw the resolution of conflict in the region as a shared challenge, and appealed for continued support of all the parties in the conflict.

Following the parties' statements, the Council went into a private meeting on the DRC to hear further details about the peace agreement.