Democratic Republic of Congo:
Cease-fire agreed but war danger remains

by Rolf Martens

At the 20th French-African summit in Paris, on November 26-28, an agreement 
in principle was reached on a cease-fire between the invaders of the 
Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo and its defenders, the Congolese 
Government and its allies. A document is to be drawn up for possible 
signing at a meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, on December 14. After that, a 
conference on the same issue is to be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on 
December 18-19.

However, signs of internal division among the aggressors and among the neo-
colonialists supporting them have shown up, in connection with the 
discussions on a possible cease-fire. Some of them have said there is an 
agreement in principle, others that there is no such thing.

For its part, the Congolese Government is adamant that those military 
forces of Congolese origin which are helping the invaders are really 
puppets of the latter.

They do not represent any portion of the Congolese people but are either 
leftovers of the privileged armed forces of the former dictator Mobutu or 
tribal allies of the Ugandans. The international media's constantly 
designating them as "rebels" is misleading.

The Government of President Laurent-Dsir Kabila of the DR Congo has 
declined to negotiate with them as an entity "separate from" their foreign 
masters.

Even if a cease-fire holds, the flagrant aggression against the DR Congo 
remains a fact. The danger is that the cease-fire may be taken as an excuse 
for the invaders and/or their neo-colonialist masters to partition the 
country and "legitimise" a puppet "government" under their control in its 
occupied eastern part.

If the Government of France is sincere in its expressed wishes for peace in 
the DR Congo, it should exert pressure on the Government of the United 
States for it to urge its proxy states Uganda and Rwanda to withdraw their 
invading troops.

The war unleashed against the DR Congo by Uganda and Rwanda has been very 
destructive of the country's resources, which had not recovered from the 
war to overthrow the dictator Mobutu. For the DR Congo and its allies the 
war has proved a great financial and material strain.

Uganda on the other hand has recently obtained 90 tanks from the Ukraine, 
more than doubling its tank force. The question must be asked, who is 
funding Uganda and Rwanda's war in the DR Congo?

The international financial community has been withholding support from the 
DR Congo ever since the former dictator was overthrown, but has no qualms 
about providing finance to Uganda and Rwanda. And this even after those two 
countries have — finally — openly admitted having troops fighting in the 
DR Congo and that their aim is the overthrow of the government of that 
country.

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DR Congo Committee in Sweden