allAfrica.com: Central Africa: Pretoria Pact "A Positive Step", Says Rwandan President (Page 1 of 2)

"Without peace in this region, without peace and development in central Africa we couldn't possibly talk about peace in the rest of Africa". The words of the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, encapsulated a reality that was not lost on the African leaders and dignitaries who gathered in Pretoria on Tuesday for the signing of a peace pact between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.

Mbeki, the first chairman of the newly-launched African Union, is also the new facilitator in the Congolese peace process.

The two signatories to the bilateral peace and security accord initialled in Pretoria were President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and his Congolese counterpart, Joseph Kabila. They pledged their commitment to work towards ending the multi-layered war in the Great Lakes region that has drawn in rival foreign armies, as well as homegrown Congolese rebels, backed by neighbouring countries, namely Rwanda and Uganda.

Under the terms of the agreement, giant Congo in the heart of the continent, has guaranteed tiny Rwanda's security, especially at its eastern borders with its huge neighbour. Rwanda has always maintained that it cannot pull its troops out of Congo unless its frontiers are safe.

In return, Rwanda has pledged to withdraw its forces from the DRC, as long as the Kinshasa government sticks to its commitment to neutralise, disarm and repatriate armed Rwandan Hutu militias (known as 'Interahamwe') and former elements of the Rwandan army (ex-FAR). Kagame and Kigali say these armed groups were responsible for the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.

In an interview with allAfrica.com's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton and Reuters correspondent Manoah Esipisu -- preceded by a news briefing which followed the signing of the agreement in Pretoria -- President Kagame outlined his vision of how to achieve, ensure and maintain peace in Congo and Rwanda, which he says will spill over into the rest of central Africa .

President Kagame, do you think Tuesday's peace pact will work?

The important thing is that we have met and we have agreed on two key things, that we shall do all in our power to ensure that the (Rwandan) militias (based in the Democratic Republic of Congo) are dealt with, demobilised and repatriated so that they cease to be a threat to our two countries or any other country. The second issue is to ensure that all foreign troops that are not Congolese leave the DRC.

Among the foreign armies in Congo is Rwanda's, and we are committed to leaving. We shall leave provided our security concerns are dealt with as we have agreed. We are prepared to implement our side of the agreement as the Rwandan government. And we have a feeling that both parties are this time committed to ensuring that there is peace, so we believe this can be implemented. We are ready to implement the deal and to ensure that peace is restored.

We will hold monthly review meetings among heads of state - the president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, myself and President Joseph Kabila of the DRC. And we shall meet either in the presence of the United Nations secretary general himself, Kofi Annan, or with his representative. This is necessary to ensure that the agreement remains on track and any new hurdles are removed.

So do you consider you've made progress in Pretoria?

I think today was a positive step. This is a big step in resolving the conflict so that the Congolese people can be able to live in peace and struggle to build their country. Our final objective is to enable the people of Congo and the people of Rwanda and the rest of the region to live together in peace as has been before.

What more is required?

Much as the two parties - Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- are very important, without the support of the entire continent of Africa, without the support of the international community, it is therefore important that these other parties realise that it is important for them to play their part.

It would be very helpful if they got involved directly and if they were able to use their capacities to try and help these African efforts so that peace will hold. We are sure that, if they came on board and supported these efforts, we shall be able to move forward, because it is important that since some of them have historically been part of the problem, they cannot escape the responsibility of being part of the solution.

Again I am saying this based on the fact that there has been more paying of lip service to finding the solutions to these problems than actually applying these capacities, building on the good will that we are trying to build, signified by reaching this understanding.

So what are the immediate priorities as far as Rwanda is concerned?

We have to move step by step and look at the priority areas. The issue of the 'Interahamwe' can be easily dealt with if we look at it at different levels. One level is at the political level. I think once the parties concerned with dealing with the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda get involved, there will be progress.

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