Congo's Joint Military Commission appeals for funds

Speaking in the capital of Zambia, Presidential Affairs Minister Eric Silwamba said the Joint Military Commission (JMC) mandated with implementing the ceasefire was under threat because guarantors had failed to provide the right conditions for the deployment of the U.N. mission in the DRC.

"It is lamentable that our words have not matched our deeds on the ground," Silwamba said. Zambian President Frederick Chiluba was the chief mediator in the crisis that threatens development and stability throughout central Africa. Six countries are involved in the conflict that pits Congolese self-declared President Laurent Kabila, backed by Angola, Namibia and troops from Zimbabwe, against rebel troops backed by Uganda and Rwanda. Uganda and Rwanda charge that Kabila has failed to curb violent Hutu militia who found refuge in Congo after the 1994 genocide against Rwandan Tutsis. They charge the militia continue to cause problems in raids back into Rwanda. JMC General Timothy Kazembe said in Lusaka that the commission had run out of funds and its neutral investigators had returned to their home countries. He warned that their departure would have negative impacts on the process. "I am therefore appealing to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) ... for funds and ask officers from neutral countries so that the deployment of neutral observers can be done quickly," said Kazembe. He said the JMC, whose operational base is in Lusaka, has not been able to able to pay out allowances for the regional JMCs for September and October.

"As a result it has not been able to carry out investigations of ceasefire violations," he added. The JMC was meeting in Lusaka to review plans to implement Rwanda's offer to withdraw to distances exceeding 30 kilometres up to 200 kilometres. The countries that have mediated the conflict and set up the JMC include Tanzania and South Africa.

(bb/dpa)