Good News On Congo

PRESIDENT MUSEVENI is due to meet the new Congolese president Joseph Kabila in Lusaka on Friday, Kabila Junior has already met Rwandan President Paul Kagame in an apparently amicable meeting in Washington DC earlier this month. Kagame has made it clear that Rwanda is willing to withdraw from the Congo if the issue of the Interhamwe is dealt with. Things are on the move. The logjam of Laurent Kabila has gone. His son seems far more prepared to talk and achieve a negotiated solution. Museveni has insisted several times on the campaign trail that Uganda's security objectives have been achieved in Congo. The ADF bases on the Congo side of the Ruwenzori have been wiped out and there are only a few rebels left. The Congo airports are no longer being used to resupply the ADF. Museveni's campaign manifesto clearly states that Uganda is now willing to withdraw from Congo unilaterally if there is no consensus 'because our own interests have already been met'. The meeting between Kabila and Museveni is therefore more to determine whether a Ugandan withdrawal will be unilateral or according to the terms of the Lusaka Agreement. Ironically a unilateral agreement would not be the best thing for the Congo. It could easily leave a power vacuum and cause anarchy. Kabila would be better off with a phased withdrawal by Uganda. For Uganda's part, the Lusaka terms would also be preferable because they would include a commitment by the Congo that border security for Uganda would be assured, or at least that Congo would not actively work to destabilise Uganda. Both leaders should make every effort to approach this meeting in Lusaka amicably. It is in both Uganda and Congo's interests that the Lusaka Agreement is implemented willingly and positively. Ends