Tuesday, 23 July, 2002, 15:37 GMT 16:37 UK
Warning for DR Congo peace deal


Previous deals have not ended the war

The main rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo has warned that they must be involved if the four-year war is to end.
On Monday, representatives of the two governments agreed that Rwanda would withdraw its 30,000 troops from the DR Congo, if ethnic Hutu militias operating there were disarmed.




Peace deal

90 day timetable
Presidents still to sign
Rwanda to withdraw 30,000 troops from DR Congo
DR Congo to disarm 'Interahamwe' militias

Guide to DR Congo's rebels


Presidents Joseph Kabila of DR Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda have not yet signed the deal but it is hoped they will do so later this week.

Congolese Government spokesman, Kikaya bin Karubi, said that Mr Kabila had agreed to sign the deal on a date still to be arranged by South Africa, which hosted the closed-door talks.

Rwanda has always argued that it sent soldiers across the border in pursuit of the "Interahamwe" groups responsible for the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda.

The BBC's Mark Dummett in Kinshasa says that previous peace deals have failed to end the war.

Adolphe Onusumba, leader of the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), said that the Rwandans were briefing him about the deal and his group may then meet representatives of the DR Congo Government.

"The agreement between Congo and Rwanda is significant, but it addresses only the external dimensions of the Congolese crisis and does not resolve internal dimensions," he said.

"To sort out the internal dimensions, Kinshasa must pursue a political agreement with all Congolese belligerents, opposition parties and civil society."

'Looting'

Papers in Kinshasa are sceptical about this latest deal.

Le Palmares, which is generally supportive of the government said:


Onusumba wants to be involved


"Kagame is not the person who keeps his word for the happiness of the Congolese people.

"What counts for him is to continue to lie so as to gain more time for the looting of the DR Congo's resources."

La Reference Plus, which is more critical of Mr Kabila's government says the question remaining is how to count the Rwandan Hutu militia in the DR Congo and to know where they are.

'Not a single soldier'

The talks, chaired by the South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, were aimed at finding a solution to the conflict between the countries.

"We reached an agreement that will solve the problems in the Congo and in Rwanda... We have done what can be done to satisfy the sovereignty of the DR Congo and the security of Rwanda," Mr Zuma told AFP.


DR Congo's president wanted the Rwandan troops out


The deal is supposed to be implemented within the next 90 days.

Rwanda's ambassador to South Africa, Joseph Karemera told the BBC's Network Africa that "if all parties comply to what they have agreed... we shall have no reason to be there, not a single soldier."

Mr Bin Karubi said that the Congolese government would work with the United Nations and South Africa to disarm the "Interahamwe" militias.

"This is a big step forward because a week ago Kagame was saying he would never leave Congo, but now in front of international witnesses he has said he will withdraw," he said.

In April, Mr Kabila's government reached a deal with the Ugandan-backed MLC group which excluded the RCD.

MLC leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba was supposed to become prime minister but he has not yet left his rebel headquarters to go to Kinshasa






Monday, 22 July, 2002, 19:42 GMT 20:42 UK
Peace deal for DR Congo and Rwanda Peace has been hard to find in DR CongoRwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have reached a peace agreement which could put an end to four years of fighting. DR Congo has agreed to make their common border safe by flushing out Rwandan rebels sheltering in the east of the country, according to the French news agency, AFP. We have done what can be done to satisfy the sovereignty of the DRC and the security of Rwanda
Jabob Zuma
For its part, Rwanda has agreed to withdraw its troops from DR Congo, which are estimated to number 30,000. But the peace deal, reached in Pretoria, South Africa, after five days of talks, needs to be approved by the presidents of Rwanda and DR Congo to be valid. Africa's 'world war' No timetable has been set, but Kinshasa's ambassador to South Africa, Bene M'Poko, told the BBC's French service that a deal could be signed any time now, possibly at the weekend. DR Congo's president wanted the Rwandan troops out
The talks, chaired by the South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, were aimed at finding a solution to the four-year conflict between the countries. "We reached an agreement that will solve the problems in the Congo and in Rwanda... We have done what can be done to satisfy the sovereignty of the DRC and the security of Rwanda," Mr Zuma told AFP. But the BBC's Rageh Omaar in Johannesburg says that reaching agreement is one thing; implementing it across the vast eastern provinces of Congo is quite another. DR Congo timeline
1998 - Uganda, Rwanda try to topple Laurent Kabila 1998 - Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia prop up Kabila 1999 - Ceasefire signed but violated repeatedly 2001 - Laurent Kabila assassinated, replaced by his son, Joseph
In the wake of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, many of the men who carried out the slaughter of up to a million Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus, the so-called Interahamwe militias, fled into eastern Zaire, as it was then known. From their exile base, they continued to launch attacks into Rwanda. Rwandan soldiers and their rebel allies, frustrated at the unwillingness of the authorities in Kinshasa to do anything to expel or destroy the Interahamwe, entered the provinces of eastern Congo in 1998 to pursue them. President Kagame said Hutu rebels in DR Congo were a threat
It was the start of a conflict that sucked in numerous other African States, each of them fighting proxy wars, often motivated by profiting from Congo's huge mineral resources. In what has been called "Africa's first world war", the fighting has claimed an estimated 2.5 million lives and destabilised central Africa. Recent fighting Fighting has flared up in the east of the country in recent weeks, with the involvement of Rwandan troops. More than 50,000 people have fled the fighting in the Uvira region between Rwandan troops and their Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) allies on one side, and forces of the Banyamulenge, ethnic Tutsis living in DR Congo, on the other. The Banyamulenge forces were allied to the Rwandans and the RCD, but split from them earlier this year.
The United Nations and international aid agencies have sent a mission to Uvira to evaluate the needs of the local population and the displaced people. Past attempts to end the suffering have concentrated on finding a consensus between the many Congolese parties. Marathon talks earlier this year between more than 350 representatives of the government, rebel factions, militias, political parties and civic associations failed to come up with any significant solution. The RCD attended the talks but could not reach an agreement with the government. But on Monday, the rebels welcomed the agreement reached by Kinshasa and Kigali. The RCD representative for judicial affairs, Moise Nyarugabo, told the BBC's French service that the Congolese authorities should now get back to the negotiating table to solve the internal aspect of the conflict.






1997 May - Tutsi and other anti-Mobutu rebels, aided principally by Rwanda, capture the capital, Kinshasa; Zaire is renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo; Laurent-Desire Kabila installed as president.


Kabila being sworn in

1998 August - Rebel forces, backed by Rwandan and Ugandan troops, advance towards the capital, Kinshasa; the intervention of troops from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola turns the tide and the rebels are pushed back.

The rebels establish control over much of the east, holding the towns of Bukavu, Goma and Uvira. Later they seize Kindu in the east and Kisangani, the country's third city, in the northeast.

1998 September - Kinshasa, comes close to running out of food, while rebels face defeat in the west and thousands of the rebels who narrowly failed to reach Kinshasa are captured. Despite this, rebels in the east continue fighting.

1998 October - Peace talks in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, break down.

1999 May - Rebel divisions deepen. Rival factions and their backers Rwanda and Uganda clash.

1999 February - Rebels say they have launched a major new offensive on three fronts in the north and the southeast as refugees flee the fighting.

Lusaka peace accord signed

1999 July - The six African governments involved in the war sign a ceasefire accord in Lusaka. Rebels do not sign yet.

1999 August - Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC), Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), sign Lusaka peace accord on separate days.


Rebel activity continues despite a ceasefire

1999 October - Amid allegations of ceasefire violations, rebel groups turn down an invitation from President Laurent Kabila to take part in a national dialogue on reconciliation.

2000 February - Ethnic fighting erupts between communities in the rebel-held east. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council authorises a 5,500-strong UN force to monitor the ceasefire.

2000 August - Leaders of the countries involved in the Congolese civil war meet in Lusaka to assess implementation of the previous year's peace agreement. The summit breaks down.

2001 9 January - Zambian government confirms that some three thousand Congolese soldiers held in camps in Zambia have been sent back to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The troops fled into Zambia following an upsurge of fighting with Rwandan-backed rebels in the border area in December.

Laurent Kabila killed

2001 26 January - Joseph Kabila sworn in as president days after his father, Laurent, was fatally wounded by a bodyguard.

2001 1 February - Kabila meets Rwandan President Paul Kagame - a key backer of the rebels in DR Congo - in Washington. In the following weeks, Rwanda, Uganda and the rebel groups they support commit to a UN-brokered disengagement plan.

2001 28 February - Ugandan and Rwandan troops begin pulling troops back from the DR Congo frontline as a goodwill gesture towards the peace process.

2001 20 April - Members of the United Nations observer mission MONUC deployed in rebel-held town of Kisangani.

2001 May - President Kabila lifts ban on all parties that were in operation under former President Mobuto Sese Seko.


The International Rescue Committee, the New York refugee agency, estimates that the war has killed 2.5 million people, directly or indirectly, since August 1998.


Volcano damage: A fireball rises over Goma after lava hits a fuel depot

2001 September - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan visits. Namibia says it has withdrawn most of its troops.

2001 November - UN panel of experts restates its assertion earlier in the year that the warring parties are deliberately prolonging the conflict to plunder gold, diamonds, timber and coltan.

2002 January - Residents of Goma flee as much of the city is destroyed by lava flows.

Uganda reinforces its troop presence in the northeast after ethnic clashes kill hundreds.

2002 April - After weeks of peace talks in South Africa, the Kinshasa government signs a power-sharing deal with Ugandan-backed rebels, but not the powerful Rwandan-backed rebels who control much of the country. Observers fear the conflict could reignite.