Congo crisis: Kabila, Kagame back for talks

Nov 23, 2012

Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame and his Congolese leader Joseph Kabila are set to attend another regional summit on the Congo conflict in Kampala tomorrow.

By M. Walubiri & Agencies

Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame and his Congolese leader Joseph Kabila are set to attend another regional summit on the Congo conflict in Kampala tomorrow.

The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) comes at a time of renewed fighting in the restive eastern Congo, which has seen the Congolese M23 rebels seize the strategic town of Goma from government forces.

African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will also attend the extraordinary summit of the 11-member regional bloc, as efforts to find a lasting solution to a conflict that has left an estimated 450,000 Congolese as refugees in neighbouring countries gather pace. The ICGLR has held multiple summits in recent months on the conflict in eastern Congo.

Meanwhile, foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa dismissed reports that some leaders of M23 had been invited to Kampala for direct talks with President Yoweri Museveni.

“No, we have not invited them,” Kutesa said when asked whether some M23 leaders were in Kampala.

Asked about how Museveni and Kagame’s order to M23 to pull out of Goma and end hostilities will be communicated to the rebels, Kutesa replied: “We have systems in place to contact them.”

The spokesperson of M23, Amani Kabasha, was yesterday quoted by AFP news agency as saying some of their leaders were headed for talks in Kampala.

At the end of the two-day talks on Wednesday, Museveni and Kagame issued a statement, calling for the M23 to immediately halt its offensive and pull out of Goma.

However, the fighting flared up yesterday as the M23 snubbed orders to pull out of Goma unless the government of Kabila agrees to direct peace talks.



 

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