M23, DR Congo talks to last two weeks

By Raymond Baguma                      

The renewed Kampala peace negotiations between the M23 rebel group and Democratic Rrepublic of Congo government are expected to last not more than two weeks, according to the chief facilitator Dr. Crispus Kiyonga.

This is in line with the directive by the regional leaders at the end of last week’s emergency meeting called by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) regional bloc to end fighting in eastern DR Congo.

The representatives of the delegations Tuesday attended a press conference that was addressed by the chief facilitator, Dr. Kiyonga, who is also Uganda's minister of defence. Present were François Mwamba representing the DR Congo government as well as René Abandi representing the M23.

Dr. Kiyonga also said that all parties in the conflict who include the M23, the government forces as well as the United Nations Intervention Brigade are expected to stop fighting in order to respect the ongoing dialogue in Kampala.

“Two weeks was carefully thought out by our Principals. They estimated that within two weeks, we would be able to make a lot of progress concluding what We have started. So let us see how far we shall go. There is renewed commitment by the two sides,” Kiyonga said.

“We cannot be talking and then there is fighting. It is unfortunate that this has happened in the past. We hope the fighting will not recur. We are going to resolve the problems through the use of political dialogue. Our expectation is that the shelling and shooting should stop,” he added.

Kiyonga said the talks which began in December last year have made progress with a review of the March 2009 agreement that was signed by the National Congress of the People (CNDP) rebel group – a precursor to M23 – and the Kinshasa government.

“Significant progress has been made and both parties have agreed on the status of implementation of the provisions of the CNDP agreement.

Kiyonga said there is a draft agreement for the peace negotiations that was made after consultations from both warring sides, and the draft agreement is to be further discussed during the given period.