Lusaka — The Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, reiterated Saturday in Lusaka the need to prioritize the political means for resolving conflicts.
The Angolan politician and member of the Ministerial Committee of the Organ (CMO) was speaking to the press at the end of the Extraordinary Summit of the Double Troika of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
"Whatever deployment of forces we make, we must always bear in mind that the political solution is the path we should favour," he said, referring to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) and Mozambique (SAMIM).
He considered the meeting to have been an opportunity for the countries to hear about the diplomatic efforts underway, particularly by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, as the mediator appointed by the African Union (AU), as well as to assess, among other things, the security situation in eastern region of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and northern Mozambique.
Téte António spoke about some of the points contained in the summit's final communiqué, mainly linked to deployment, mobilisation of resources and other means related to the sustainability of missions.
However, although not mentioned in the document that emerged from the high-level meeting in Lusaka, the minister spoke about the possible decision to phase out SAMIM troops, emphasizing that the process must be carried out without a security gap.
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According to the communiqué, the summit received updated reports on the situation in the DRC and Mozambique and reiterated the regional organisation's support for the two governments in achieving lasting peace, stability and security.
It congratulated the troop-contributing countries and expressed its appreciation to the men and women deployed in the SAMIM and SAMIDRC missions for their service in favour of preserving peace and security in the region.
The summit expressed full support for political and diplomatic processes on the continent, including the Luanda Process, led by President João Lourenço, and the Nairobi Process, led by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The Luanda Process, or International Conference on the Great Lakes Regions (ICGLR) Roadmap on the Pacification Process in Eastern DRC, is a document that focuses, among other things, on the establishment of a climate of trust between the states of the Great Lakes Region, the creation of ideal conditions for dialogue and political consultation and the normalisation of political and diplomatic relations between the DRC and Rwanda, as well as the immediate cessation of hostilities. VC/ADR/MRA/DOJ
