By Ronald Ssekandi and Yuan Qing
KAMPALA, (PNA/Xinhua) — Leaders from Africa’s Great Lakes region and their foreign and defense ministers on Wednesday started gathering here to resolve the latest escalation of fighting in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The leaders are holding an emergency summit called by Uganda, the chair of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), a regional peace and security body bringing together 11 member countries.
In recent weeks, fighting resumed between the Congolese troops and the M23 rebels. The UN Intervention Brigade was also involved in the fighting which saw the M23 being dislodged from some of its strategic places around Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.
The fighting also affects relations between the neighboring DRC and Rwanda, which is protesting the shelling of its areas by unknown people from across the border.
The flare is the latest since the new rebellion surfaced in 2012, despite various regional efforts to stabilize the country. The DRC has witnessed decades of war, leaving a large number of people dead and forcing hundreds of thousands of others to flee to neighboring Uganda and Rwanda.
Following regional pressure late last year, the Congolese government and the M23 started peace talks mediated by the Ugandan government.
Regional experts say the negotiation option must be explored to the end, warning that war can worsen the already bad humanitarian situation.
James Mugume, permanent secretary of Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Xinhua in an interview on Wednesday that to have meaningful negotiations the fighting has to stop.
“You must stop the fighting then hold the peace talks as agreed in the peace and security framework,” he said.
“You should never tire of meetings when you are resolving an intricate problem that dates back to the colonial days. It is a big country; there are many issues, so you have to be patient.”
Mugume expressed fear that the issue of cessation of hostilities is likely to come up during the one-day summit scheduled for Thursday.
“In negotiations, there is always fighting and talking. So we have to rebalance to make sure that we get back on track.”
The UN secretary-general’s special envoy for Africa’s Great Lakes region, Mary Robinson, paid a visit to Goma recently, calling for the relaunch of the Kampala talks.
Briefing the regional defense chiefs on Wednesday, Alphonse Ntumba Luaba, ICGLR executive secretary, also said the talks are currently at a standstill and need to be relaunched.
In their draft report, the defense chiefs recommended that the Kampala talks should resume within three days after the summit on Thursday and conclude within a maximum period of 14 days.
They urged the M23 to put an end to all military activities against the DRC government in North Kivu.
Rene Abandi, the head of the M23’s delegation at the talks, told reporters here on Aug. 29 that they were ready to declare a ceasefire provided the government side was also ready to do so.
“Any hour of day or night, if the government accepts, we are ready for a bilateral ceasefire.”
Abandi also warned that the M23 is ready to defend its positions if the government and the UN Intervention Brigade continue to opt for war.
The summit will be attended by regional leaders, the UN secretary-general’s special envoy, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, chairperson of the African Union Commission, and representatives of the European Union and the United States.