Kabila Urges UK To End Congo War

By Vision reporter and AgenciesDEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila has called on Britain to “unblock things” and resolve the conflict that has claimed more than three million lives since August 1998. Meeting the British and French foreign ministers, Jack Straw and Hubert Vedrine, Kabila said London “would just have to say one word on Rwanda and Uganda, whose troops are on DRC territory, for things to change” and hostilities come to an end, AFP reported. In Kampala, sources said Straw and Vedrine are scheduled this morning to hold talks with President Yoweri Museveni. Sources said the two ministers would also meet leading politicians. But the identities of the politicians were not disclosed. Opposition figures contacted yesterday said they had not received invitation to that effect.In a related development, the DRC cabinet has condemned the international community’s “silence” on the redeployment of Ugandan troops in northeastern DRC, the UN’s integrated information network (IRIN) said yesterday quoting the Congolese state television.The redeployment, the cabinet said, was in violation of the 1999 Lusaka Accord, and it therefore called on the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to “force Uganda to withdraw” her troops from the area.Ends