DATE=4/23/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGO/DIALOGUE (L)
NUMBER=2-261637
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=ABIDJAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The government in Congo-Kinshasa has rejected
a proposal to hold a national dialogue with its
opponents in July. The proposal was submitted by the
Organization of African Unity's representative to the
Congo, whose mission was to facilitate the inter-
Congolese talks. As V-O-A's John Pitman reports from
our West Africa bureau, the Kinshasa government is
accusing the facilitator of overstepping his
authority.
TEXT: Congolese Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Yerodia
flatly rejected the proposal put forward by former
Botswanan president Ketumile Masire, saying it
appeared biased toward the interests of the
government's opponents.
In a statement released on Saturday, Mr. Yerodia
criticized the Organization of African Unity's
representative for proposing that the talks be held
outside of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Mr. Masire's report suggested the inter-Congolese
dialogue be held in July in either Zambia, Botswana or
Ethiopia. But Foreign Minister Yerodia insisted on
Saturday that the talks be held in the Congo,
preferably in the capital, Kinshasa.
Under the terms of last year's Lusaka peace accord,
the Kinshasa government agreed in principle to meet
with the rebels, who control nearly a third of the
country, as well as political groups from the non-
armed opposition and civil society.
However, since the agreement was signed last July and
August, repeated military violations of the Lusaka
accord have made discussions of a domestic peace
conference difficult.
/// OPT /// The Kinshasa government has also been
accused of dragging its feet on the dialogue issue,
and financial constraints have hampered outside
efforts to help. /// END OPT ///
Mr. Masire was appointed in December, with the
government's approval, to facilitate the planning
phase.
But the O-A-U envoy's relations with President Laurent
Kabila's government quickly soured over the
government's refusal to allow him to leave the capital
and visit other parts of the country.
Mr. Masire nonetheless filed his recommendations
earlier this month. In addition to calling for the
July deadline and proposing the three foreign capitals
as venues, Mr. Masire also invited foreign ambassadors
to attend planning meetings in the capital, Kinshasa,
and named himself chairman of the talks.
On Saturday, the Congolese foreign minister ruled out
the participation of foreign ambassadors, saying the
talks were, in his words, "an affair of the Congolese
people."
Mr. Yerodia also accused Mr. Masire of bias,
suggesting the proposal was designed to give the
foreign governments supporting the anti-government
rebels, namely Rwanda and Uganda, more time to
consolidate their hold on Congolese territory.
Mr. Masire's proposed chairmanship of the talks was
also rejected by the government, which maintains the
chair should be chosen by the Congolese people.
/// REST OPT ///
Mr. Yerodia's statement added that Mr. Masire's only
mission was to facilitate contacts between the
Congolese parties, not, in his words, "unilaterally
modify" the program for the talks.
As the government slammed Mr. Masire's proposal on
Saturday, it also rejected rebel accusations that its
troops had violated the latest cease-fire, which went
into effect on April 14.
A rebel spokesman in the eastern part of the country
said that government troops had attacked rebel
positions on Friday near the town of Ikela, some 250
kilometers southwest of the rebel stronghold of
Kisangani.
But at a news conference in Kinshasa on Saturday,
Foreign Minister Yerodia denied the rebels' claims.
The government's liaison official with the United
Nations Observer Mission in Congo, MONUC, echoed Mr.
Yerodia's remarks, adding that both sides had patrols
working around Ikela but that no shots had been
fired.
For its part, the U-N mission has not commented on the
alleged cease-fire violation. (Signed)
NEB/JP/ALW/JO
23-Apr-2000 08:58 AM EDT (23-Apr-2000 1258 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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