New York, UN — The new Democratic Republic of Congo President, Maj.-Gen. Joseph Kabila, Friday promised to promote national dialogue and reconciliation in his country and to co- operate in the deployment of UN peacekeepers there.

While lamenting at the devastation wrought on the DRC by three years of war, Kabila told the UN Security Council that he and his government had resolved to work for dialogue among all peoples of the DRC.

He appealed to all Congolese political players and the civil society to come to the negotiation table without reservation.

The national dialogue, he explained, would bring together Congolese of all persuasions, including those pursuing the rebellion, to decide on how to organise and rebuild their society, he stated.

He called on the international community to support the Congolese people in the process of national dialogue and reconciliation.

In light of the national processes, Kabila, who barely a week ago was sworn in as president, called on Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi to return to a position of good neighbourliness, referring to the withdrawal of their troops from the DRC.

He said it was imperative that all these countries democratised their societies on the basis of national consensus for the establishment of peace and stability in the Great Lakes region.

The DRC, he said, would seek ways and means of ensuring that the peace agreement reached in Lusaka, Zambia, in 1999 brings peace to the whole of the Great Lakes region.

For the Lusaka agreement to be successful, Kabila said, there was need for a mechanism to back its implementation to deal with issues of violations.

The 31-year-old president urged the Security Council to set a new time frame for the implementation of the Lusaka agreement, covering such elements as the disengagement of all forces; the deployment of UN peacekeepers; the withdrawal of the foreign forces backing the rebellion and the withdrawal of forces backing the government.

The DRC would co-operate with the UN to deploy its peacekeepers throughout the country and along its borders with Rwanda and Uganda, he said.

Kabila bemoaned the fact that, one year after his father had come to the UN and called for the withdrawal of Ugandan and Rwandese forces, the situation has remained unchanged.

The continuation of the war, he said, has inflicted untold suffering on the people, including a death toll of around 1.7 million.

He described as devastating the illegal exploitation of Congo's natural resources of timber, diamond, gold and tantalite by the invading foreign forces.

On the UN panel investigating these illegal activities, the president assured that his government will give it all needed co-operation to ensure that it comes out with a report that is fair, equitable and truthful.

In his address at the meeting, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan cited the holding of the cease-fire in the past two weeks as a sign of good prospects for the DRC peace process.

"This is surely a moment of opportunity, which must be seized by the people of the DRC and all who wish them well," Annan said, urging all military commanders in the DRC to maintain the cease-fire.

With the cease-fire maintained, the Secretary General said, the parties can begin to disengage their forces to agreed position.

On its part, the UN mission in the DRC (MONUC) has already begun measures to support such disengagement, the Secretary General added.

Annan promised to come out in his next report with the elements of a revised concept of operations to guide MONUC's deployment in support of the disengagement plan.

All these efforts notwithstanding, Annan said, peace and stability could return to the DRC and its neighbours only when all Congolese parties engage in meaningful dialogue to decide on how their country will be governed.

"This requires the new government to show a strong commitment to peaceful negotiation, notably by taking steps to liberalise the political climate in the country," he urged, saying he had trust that Kabila's government was prepared to work with the facilitator of the Congolese dialogue, Ketumile Masire of Botswana.

Annan appealed for an early withdrawal of all foreign forces from the DRC as provided for under the Lusaka agreement.

In their statements, Council members stressed the imperative of a liberalised political environment in the DRC for national dialogue.

Many expressed encouragement at the stated commitment of Kabila to national dialogue and to the implementation of the Lusaka accord.