Ministers hail peace steps in Africa's Great Lakes
Source: Reuters
By Daniel Wallis NAIROBI, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Africa's blood-soaked Great Lakes region has seen notable steps towards peace in the last two years, but they are threatened by fresh tensions on its borders, African foreign ministers said on Monday. Landmark elections in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and relative stability in Burundi were hailed by delegates in Kenya preparing for a regional summit this week that aims to build on a security and cooperation declaration agreed in 2004. "It gives us a great sense of jubilation to congratulate the people of DRC. ... We support and encourage them to keep firmly to the path of stability and democracy," Tanzania's Foreign Minister Asha-Rose Migiro said to loud applause. "Peace and stability in DRC is not only vital for the development of that country, but also fundamental for our entire region as a whole," she told the meeting ahead of the United Nations-backed international conference in Nairobi. Last week, President Joseph Kabila took office in DRC after a peace process ended a war that claimed 4 million lives. Analysts see his country as key to lasting peace in the Great Lakes, which also includes Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. The region has been mired in violence since Rwanda's 1994 genocide and a string of wars and counter-wars that followed it. Said Djinnit, the African Union's peace and security commissioner, said "significant progress" had also been made in Burundi, which is slowly emerging from its own long civil war. "However ... we cannot but express deep concern at the continued conflict and tensions in Darfur and at the borders between Sudan, Chad and Central African Republic," he said, urging leaders to focus on this "very disturbing situation". Somalia, where the United Nations has approved sending east African peacekeepers to support a fragile interim government, was not mentioned on Monday. But the proposed peace force will be on the minds of leaders due to gather on Thursday and Friday. In November 2004 in Tanzania, regional leaders signed a Great Lakes peace framework of measures including efforts to disarm rebels, end arms trafficking and cooperate to help millions of refugees. This week, they are expected to sign a pact spelling out action plans, programmes and protocols devised since then.
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