UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
5 Mar
2009
Press review
Today's local papers devote their headlines to the summit meeting scheduled to take place in Abuja, Nigeria today, between presidents Joseph Kabila of DRC and Paul Kagamé of Rwanda.
President Joseph Kabila and his counterpart Paul Kagamé are due to meet this Friday 25 June in Abuja under the chairmanship of the Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES announces. The paper highlights that the meeting comes amidst a 'frosty' climate between the DRC and Rwanda 'following General Laurent Nkunda and Colonel Jules Mutebutsi's dissidence in eastern DRC'. The paper recalls that from the beginning of the rebellion, President Kabila was denouncing Rwanda's implication. He however indicated that 'Kigali was denying in spite of the many witnesses' accounts'testifying that the insurgents were backed by Rwandan armoured tanks'.
LA REFERENCE PLUS further says that 'in his capacity as president of the African Union's Council for Peace and Security, Obasanjo will endeavour to secure a durable solution to the differences between Kinshasa and Kigali'. This mini-summit is part of the efforts to bring a durable and political stability to the whole Africa, the paper says, alluding to a communiqué issued by President Obasanjo's spokesman.
Referring to the agenda of the meeting, L'OBSERVATEUR announces that it 'will basically focus on the recent clashes in South Kivu between the DRC army forces and the Rwandan-backed dissident troops'.
Confirming that the Abuja meeting is aimed at 'defusing the tension between both countries', LE PALMARES however highlights that 'the task will not be easy for the Nigerian hosts as it appears'. The Rwandan president, Paul Kagamé, showed reticence by demanding pledges of good faith from the DRC that it should 'use the troops deployed in the East to disarm the Interahamwe and ex-Far and repatriate them to Rwanda'. The paper further says that Paul Kagamé'is insistent that Joseph Kabila should publicly withdraw his statement in his address to the Nation that Rwanda has attacked the DRC. LE PALMARES feels that the Rwandan request 'is a trap since it is mainly intended to pit Joseph Kabila against the Congolese people'.
Against this background, FORUM DES AS refers to a black mass against the DRC in Kigali. According to this paper, 'the DRC is on the eve of a new turn of events that risk changing the face of geopolitics in the Great Lakes sub-region'. Based on 'a correspondence circulating on the Internet', the paper reports that Kigali, the capital of the Republic of Rwanda, reportedly received an 'unexpected and secret' visit of an American delegation led by Ms. Condolezza Rice. 'The delegation allegedly held five-hour talks with a group of Congolese, including Laurent Nkunda at Kanombe airport', the paper indicates, noting that purpose of the meeting was to 'create a pro-Rwandan State in the East of DRC'.
L'AVENIR, in turn, goes back over the opening of an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the crimes committed in the DRC. In this regard, it announces that 15 members of the RCD (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie) are on the suspect list of the ICC. Quoting diplomatic sources, the paper indicates that 'ten RCD MPs and five aids to Vice- President Azarias Ruberwa will be interrogated by the ICC'. The paper reports that the ICC has also included the massacres committed by MLC troops in Mambassa (Ituri) among the dossiers to deal with but warns against 'digressions about Ankoro's dossier and unfounded accusations against general Mbuza Mabe'.
The work of the National Assembly has been at a standstill for a week, LE POTENTIEL indicates. The paper recalls that MPs are at odds on the adoption of article 126 of the law on the Army that must determine the size of the Presidential guard. MPs are divided into two groups regarding this issue: 'those who are for the creation of a whole division for presidential security, say 15,000 troops, and those for a brigade whose strength should not exceed 3,500 troops for presidential security'. By 169 votes to 130, MPs opted for a presidential guard the size of brigade, the paper recalls, highlighting that this disagreement led to the withdrawal of the pro-president's MPs from the meeting hall. This risks jeopardizing the democracy, the paper says, calling for 'CIAT's rescue'.
LA REFERENCE PLUS further says that 'in his capacity as president of the African Union's Council for Peace and Security, Obasanjo will endeavour to secure a durable solution to the differences between Kinshasa and Kigali'. This mini-summit is part of the efforts to bring a durable and political stability to the whole Africa, the paper says, alluding to a communiqué issued by President Obasanjo's spokesman.
Referring to the agenda of the meeting, L'OBSERVATEUR announces that it 'will basically focus on the recent clashes in South Kivu between the DRC army forces and the Rwandan-backed dissident troops'.
Confirming that the Abuja meeting is aimed at 'defusing the tension between both countries', LE PALMARES however highlights that 'the task will not be easy for the Nigerian hosts as it appears'. The Rwandan president, Paul Kagamé, showed reticence by demanding pledges of good faith from the DRC that it should 'use the troops deployed in the East to disarm the Interahamwe and ex-Far and repatriate them to Rwanda'. The paper further says that Paul Kagamé'is insistent that Joseph Kabila should publicly withdraw his statement in his address to the Nation that Rwanda has attacked the DRC. LE PALMARES feels that the Rwandan request 'is a trap since it is mainly intended to pit Joseph Kabila against the Congolese people'.
Against this background, FORUM DES AS refers to a black mass against the DRC in Kigali. According to this paper, 'the DRC is on the eve of a new turn of events that risk changing the face of geopolitics in the Great Lakes sub-region'. Based on 'a correspondence circulating on the Internet', the paper reports that Kigali, the capital of the Republic of Rwanda, reportedly received an 'unexpected and secret' visit of an American delegation led by Ms. Condolezza Rice. 'The delegation allegedly held five-hour talks with a group of Congolese, including Laurent Nkunda at Kanombe airport', the paper indicates, noting that purpose of the meeting was to 'create a pro-Rwandan State in the East of DRC'.
L'AVENIR, in turn, goes back over the opening of an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the crimes committed in the DRC. In this regard, it announces that 15 members of the RCD (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie) are on the suspect list of the ICC. Quoting diplomatic sources, the paper indicates that 'ten RCD MPs and five aids to Vice- President Azarias Ruberwa will be interrogated by the ICC'. The paper reports that the ICC has also included the massacres committed by MLC troops in Mambassa (Ituri) among the dossiers to deal with but warns against 'digressions about Ankoro's dossier and unfounded accusations against general Mbuza Mabe'.
The work of the National Assembly has been at a standstill for a week, LE POTENTIEL indicates. The paper recalls that MPs are at odds on the adoption of article 126 of the law on the Army that must determine the size of the Presidential guard. MPs are divided into two groups regarding this issue: 'those who are for the creation of a whole division for presidential security, say 15,000 troops, and those for a brigade whose strength should not exceed 3,500 troops for presidential security'. By 169 votes to 130, MPs opted for a presidential guard the size of brigade, the paper recalls, highlighting that this disagreement led to the withdrawal of the pro-president's MPs from the meeting hall. This risks jeopardizing the democracy, the paper says, calling for 'CIAT's rescue'.
