Addis Ababa — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza met on Sunday morning with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, ahead of the ceremony in Addis Ababa to sign a peace agreement for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Guebuza and Ban both arrived in the Ethiopian capital on Saturday night to attend the ceremony.

11 countries are scheduled to sign the agreement, intended to re-establish peace in the DRC and in the Great Lakes region. Guebuza will sign in his capacity as the current chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The 11 countries whose presidents or their representatives are expected to sign are the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Central African Republic, Angola, Congo-Brazzaville, South Africa, South Sudan, Zambia and Tanzania.

In addition, the document will be signed by SADC, the UN, the African Union and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

The most important provision in the agreement is an article that binds all the signatories to refrain from providing any material, moral or financial support for any of the rebel groups operating in the DRC. This includes allowing rebels to take shelter in their territory or use it as a rearguard.

This paragraph is aimed particularly at Rwanda, which has been accused by the DRC, the UN and SADC of supporting the M23 rebel group led by Bosco Ntaganda.