13 December 1999
Transcript: Holbrooke, Feingold Hold Press Conf. In Kinshasa
(Find wide support for facilitator for Congo crisis) (1480) After meeting with the signatories of the Lusaka Accords during his 10-nation trip across Africa, the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, said he and his delegation have found wide support for a facilitator to help ease the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DROC). "We have communicated with Salim Salim, the secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) by telephone immediately following our meeting with President Kabila this morning," Holbrooke noted at a December 11 press conference in Kinshasa. Salim Salim "received our information in a positive --very positive -- tone and said that he would be convening an OAU meeting on Tuesday [14 December] in which he hoped to be able to make a decision on the facilitator," Holbrooke said. Additionally, Holbrooke said while in Africa, his delegation also visited with the Joint Military Commission (JMC) in Lusaka, and "expressed our strong view that it should accelerate and intensify its efforts" and contributed $1 million to assist the JMC in its work. The Holbrooke-Feingold delegation visited Mali, Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Rwanda, Uganda, the Congo, and Tunisia before returning to the United States. Following is the transcript of Ambassador Holbrooke's and Senator Feingold's remarks: (begin transcript) AMBASSADOR HOLBROOKE: We are completing this afternoon a 10-nation trip to Africa. Dr. Rice and myself on behalf of the administration and Senator Feingold as ranking Democratic member of the Senate Sub-committee on Africa. I don't believe that any previous delegation has spent so much sustained time in the region focused on a single issue, the Congo. We visited all the signatories to the Lusaka Accords and we are now in Kinshasa. Our main goal has been to stress our support of the Lusaka Agreements and to see what can be done to accelerate their implementation. We can tell you today that all the forces reaffirmed their support of the Lusaka Agreements -- all the parties that we spoke to said that they wished to see a facilitator for the political dialogue chosen immediately. We have communicated with Salim Salim, the secretary general of that Organization of African Unity by telephone immediately following our meeting with President Kabila this morning. He received our information in a positive - very positive - tone and said that he would be convening an OAU meeting on Tuesday [14 December] in which he hoped to be able to make a decision on the facilitator. We have also visited with the Joint Military Commission in Lusaka and expressed our strong view that it should accelerate and intensify its efforts. We turned USD 1 million over to the JMC to assist it in its work. We have focused heavily on the violations of the cease-fire which each side blames on the other. It is of no interest to the United States to hold some kind of inquiry as to who is to blame. Both sides -- or to be more precise, all sides -- know that they must stop this or else the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo will deteriorate. We have also had important meetings this afternoon, both of which are continuing, with the new special representative of the [U.N.] secretary-general, Mr. [Kemal] Marjane and the U.N. people who are continuing to meet in this room, and with representatives of four [word indistinct] political parties who are meeting in the room behind us. So, as you can see, meetings are continuing with representatives of Senator Feingold's staff and my own team even as we are talking with you. I'd like to ask the senator to say a few words. SENATOR FEINGOLD: Thank you for coming here. It's an honor to be in the Congo. Far too few members of Congress come here. I am told that I am the first senator to come here since the fall of Mobutu. This should change, as your country and the nations of Africa are terribly important to the entire world and to the United States. This trip is about making clear that that is our feeling and that that is our policy. I accepted Ambassador Holbrooke's kind invitation to join him on this trip because I knew that this trip would have a serious purpose and that we would work very hard to understand the issues. And that is exactly what has happened. This includes a close examination of the issue of HIV/AIDS in Africa, the issue of the problem in Angola, the issues of political corruption and transparency. All these matters were taken up." "But, as the ambassador said, the central purpose of the trip was to examine the question of the future of the Congo and of what we can do to achieve the following goals for this country: that the hostilities, cease; that there be an opportunity for democratic elections within the context of the territorial integrity of the Congo; that the Congo be free of foreign military troops; and that the future of the Congo should be much brighter than in the past. I agree with the ambassador's assessment -- obviously, [all] this is very difficult, and I did not come here with great optimism. But there has been a surprising degree of unanimity among all the leaders we have met with, including the president of this country with certain key issues that can get us to the point where I can persuade my [congressional] colleagues that something has actually happened here that would be positive. And I will take that message back to my colleagues in Congress. [Ambassador Holbrooke and Senator Feingold also responded to questions:] Q: Has there been progress on the choice of a facilitator? HOLBROOKE: We spoke with President Kabila this morning. He assured us that he wanted a facilitator to be named as soon as possible and that everyone be able to agree on a name. We transmitted the president's statement to Mr. Salim Salim, secretary-general of the Organization [of] African Unity. I am hopeful, but not certain that very soon it will be possible to settle this question, which is absolutely essential. Thus it will be possible to begin the dialogue provided for in the Lusaka Accords. Q: My question concerns the remarks made yesterday by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Yerodia, which don't seem to be the same as your delegation's. Could you comment on the minister's remarks? HOLBROOKE: I have no comment to make on his statements, which I have not seen or read. Q. Let me then go back to some previous statements that you made. You said that it was time for a more activist approach. What did you mean by that? [Ambassador Holbrooke brings Senator Feingold to the microphone. The senator responds.] FEINGOLD: I can tell you that this trip itself is in effect an example of an activist approach. It is also an approach which takes account of the fact that the responsibility for the settlement of this conflict falls on the African nations themselves. But I can tell you that during the trip, we have greatly Increased our efforts in this area, and I personally support the approach that is now under way. Q: Since next year will be devoted to the Congolese problem. HOLBROOKE: No, a number of African problems will be treated in January and a special session on Congo. Q. You have noted that the Lusaka Accords are not being observed, notably in regard to the cease-fire. The Congolese people are anxiously awaiting the rapid deployment of the "blue helmets" across the republic, 500 first, then 10,000. What is slowing up the deployment? Is it the United States, [the country which] will assume the presidency of the Security Council? HOLBROOKE: I want to be very clear on this point. The United Nations has had a sad history in Congo for the last 40 years and has suffered setbacks in regard to peacekeeping operations in Bosnia, Rwanda and in Somalia. We who want to do peacekeeping in the Congo will not go forward until we are certain that we have got a policy that the leaders throughout the region [approve?] so that when we go forward we will move forward effectively. That is why we are undertaking these talks with regional leaders to prepare carefully for this operation. We attach enormous importance to the Lusaka Accords. It is not a question of the international community patrolling a country as vast as the Democratic Republic of Congo. That is why we have put the emphasis directly on the inter-Congolese dialogue, on the Joint Military Commission and on the other provisions of the Lusaka Accords. PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. (end transcript) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State)
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