Urgent need to take dialogue to next level, says ICG

Peace negotiations are incomplete, confusion reigns, and the future of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains uncertain, according to the conflict resolution think-tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG), which is urging all stakeholders in the conflict to come together to take a partial accord to the next level. In a new report, entitled "Storm Clouds Over Sun City: The Urgent Need to Recast the Congolese Peace Process", ICG cautioned that the agreement reached last month in South Africa among the Kinshasa government of President Joseph Kabila, the Ugandan-backed Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) of Jean-Pierre Bemba, and the majority of delegates from unarmed political opposition groups and civil society, "is the beginning of a political realignment in the DRC conflict". Most notably, the report said, this heralded the end of the anti-Kabila coalition and confirmed the isolation of the [Rwandan-backed] Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma). ICG said it would be "highly desirable" for negotiations with the RCD to be finalised before the transition government was installed on 15 June. It also said that South African President Thabo Mbeki would be the "ideal choice" to take over from the inter-Congolese dialogue (ICD) facilitator, Ketumile Masire. "Masire did his job at Sun City," Francois Grignon, ICG Central Africa Project director, told IRIN on Wednesday. "However, there is a need for another methodology in order to finalise negotiations to reach an inclusive agreement. If Mbeki can gain the trust of all Congolese parties and the support of foreign belligerents, he would be the ideal choice as mediator," he added, citing Mbeki's 11th-hour intervention in the ICD, which had "precipitated agreement that was not happening before". ICG further stated that the Sun City talks "may also mark the beginning of a real regional discussion on the security and economic issues at the heart of the Congolese conflict" - most notably, security threats to neighbouring Rwanda by armed Hutu elements based in eastern DRC. As soon as a political accord on power-sharing was reached, ICG said, then "the indispensable coordination of all these different dimensions of the peace process" would have to be to be assured by the appointment of a high-profile Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, whose role would be complementary to that of Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the DRC, Ambassador Amos Namanga Ngongi, who is focused specifically on peacekeeping operations within the country. A primary responsibility of the special envoy would be to prepare the agenda for a Great Lakes regional conference, "an idea that has been circulating for many years that needs to be worked out through consultation with all parties in order to find a global regional solution", Grignon said. "A special envoy is needed to drive the entire Lusaka process, leading to a pact of non-aggression among the DRC and its neighbours; economic agreements on trade and legal exploitation of natural resources; and a monitoring mechanism so that problems that have plagued the region do not occur again," Grignon added. [The full 19-page report, containing ICG's recommendations to the signatories of the Lusaka peace accord and members of the Joint Military Commission, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and to the government of the DRC, the MLC and their respective allies, is currently only available in French. The Executive Summary and Recommendations are now available in English, with an English translation due next week. Click here]