Kikwete seeks dialogue on eastern DRC – Tanzania Daily News

Tanzania, 28/05/2013

President Jakaya Kikwete has called on the international community to encourage conflicting parties in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to resolve their problems through dialogue instead of depending on military action alone. The president made the plea on Sunday during the first session of the meeting of the African Union (AU) Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework and the Great Lakes Region at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. The meeting was also attended by the United Nations Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki- Moon, member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and leaders from Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC). A statement issued by State House said that the meeting took place on the sidelines of the 21st AU summit. According to the statement, President Kikwete acknowledged on the need to have the DRC Intervention Brigade in the eastern parts of the country under the auspices of the UN, but warned that force alone was not sufficient to bring about lasting peace in the area.

“The action we have taken is good. And we will continue with preparations to send more troops and we believe that in the short-term the force will be of help militarily but the problems in the DRC need a political solution,” he told delegates at the meeting.

“The idea should be to listen to all parties involved in the conflict. “The aim is to create an environment where people understand each other to help them hold talks and stop fighting,” he said. As a step towards that goal, President Kikwete recommended that the international community should show support to the ongoing talks between the government of DRC and M23 rebels in Kampala, Uganda.

“These are very important talks, they were supposed to last for three weeks but they have dragged on for six months now. It is imperative that the talks should continue and we as the international community should support them because if the talks succeed then we would have made great strides,” he noted.

Mr Kikwete also suggested that the second talks should be between rebels hiding in the DRC where they launch attacks against their countries of origin. He said ADF is attacking Uganda and FDRL is doing the same to Rwanda. “Efforts should be made to end such attacks,” he said.

The third approach towards ending the conflict, he further said, is for the government of DRC to hold talks with other militias in the country, such as the Mai Mai because there are many such groups with their varying grievances.

Meanwhile, President Kikwete met and held talks with Namibian President Pohamba Hifikepunye and Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on the sidelines of the meeting. The talks with President Hifikepunye centred on issues involving SADC member states. With President Morsi the leaders talked about bilateral relations between Tanzania and Egypt.

Source Tanzania Daily News