PRESS CONFERENCE BY DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

PRESS CONFERENCE BY DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

"At this very moment it can be said that the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is calm on all fronts", Leonard She Okitundu, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, told correspondents at a press conference this afternoon.

The Foreign Minister briefed the press following the suspension of a Security Council meeting on the report of the special panel on the illegal exploitation of natural resources and other forms of wealth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mr. Okitundu said the report was of capital importance.  "It has corroborated what we have been saying since the outbreak of the war on the primary motivation for the aggression against the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- the illegal and illicit exploitation of our resources".

The Foreign Minister said the troops of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi had attacked his country.  Although the parties had signed a ceasefire agreement, it had taken a long time for it to be implemented.  In conformity with the provisions of the Lusaka and Harare agreements, the armed forces of his country and its allies had moved back 15 kilometres from the line of confrontation. 

"This cannot be said, however, for the occupying forces and their Congolese accomplices in the North Equateur", Mr. Okitundu said.  On the contrary, instead of disengaging, the occupying troops and their Congolese allies were moving some 150 kilometres beyond the demarcation line. 

The Foreign Minister said that despite the pressure exerted by ambassadors accredited to Kinshasa, whose countries were members of the Council, and despite promises made to the Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping, Jean-Marie Guehenno, the Ugandan troops and their Congolese accomplices remained at

150 kilometres from the demarcation line.  "So they have not disengaged", he said.

As for the Eastern Front, continued Mr. Okitundu, while disengagement had indeed taken place, deployment of forces of the United Nations Observer Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) had been problematic.  The first problem had taken place in Kisingani, where a Moroccan contingent should have been deployed but had been prevented from doing so.  Instead, it had had to withdraw to Bangui in the Central African Republic.

Once again, continued Mr. Okitundu, the international community had been obliged to exert pressure through the ambassadors accredited to Kinshasa, whose countries were members of the Council, while MONUC had had to make arrangements for the Moroccan troops to finally be deployed.  "There is one comment to be made in this context, which is that the city of Kisingani has been demilitarized or supposedly demilitarized under Council resolution 1304 (2000)", he said.  

The city, however, remained under the occupation of Rwandese troops and the RCD-MLC, a Congolese movement, Mr. Okitundu went on to say.  By preventing the deployment of MONUC, those troops were showing their reluctance to conform to

commitments made at Harare and the provisions of Council resolution 1341 (2001) on the implementation of those commitments

"What can be derived from all this?" asked the Foreign Minister.  "On the one hand, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is complying with its commitments –- Harare and resolution 1341 (2001).  The same cannot be said about the aggressor countries –- Uganda in particular and its Congolese accomplices", he said.  That was a cause of concern from the perspective of restoring peace in his country.  "We ask the Council to examine the implication of this".

Mr. Okitundu said the Democratic Republic of the Congo would host a Council mission in the second half of this month.  That mission would travel to Kinshasa to examine progress in the implementation of the ceasefire in terms of resolution  (2001).  "We believe that the Council, through the mission, must exert tangible pressure for the Rwandese and Ugandan troops to honour their promises and demilitarize Kisingani", he said.

Addressing internal pressures and reconciliation through the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, Mr. Okitundu said his Government had announced that it would receive the former President of Botswana, Ketumile Masire, who would resume his activities as Facilitator of the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  So far, he had met President Joseph Kabila and had discussed with him the modalities for facilitation.  Following that, Mr. Masire had held consultations with all the parties to determine to what extent and how soon the dialogue could indeed be held.

"I think that tomorrow or the day after there will be a meeting in Lusaka to take stock of the outcome of the Facilitator's consultations", he said.  Things were moving forward in that sense.  "What we want in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is for the dialogue to be as comprehensive as possible".  The fact that someone might have borne arms should not exclude them from the process.  "We want to make sure that everyone will be heard and can participate in this dialogue", he stressed.

A correspondent noted that while the Expert Panel's report was quite critical of the Presidents of Rwanda and Uganda, there were also some sections about the role and the responsibility of the late President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Laurent Kabila.  He asked the Foreign Minister what he thought was his country's responsibility in the creation and the sustaining of the current conflict.

Mr. Okitundu said that from the outset, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been the victim of the aggression of three neighbouring countries, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda.  His country, therefore, had the legitimate right to defend its territory and sovereignty, and all means were acceptable.  "Therefore the accusations against the former President of our Republic are baseless because we had no alternative but to defend ourselves with whatever means we had at hand", he said.

"So we feel that the report on the pillage by the aggressor countries is well-substantiated and we also feel that the Expert Panel should have been more understanding with respect to the Congolese authorities, since they had no choice

but to defend their territory", he said, adding that there had been no personal enrichment during the period. 

A correspondent wanted to know what measures would be taken by the Council to protect Congolese natural resources.  Mr. Okitundu said that among the recommendations made by the group of experts was the imposition of sanctions on countries that were carrying out large-scale exploitation of the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  "But as you know, everyone has the right to be heard, and therefore the accused countries must defend themselves and reply to the allegations in the report of the expert panel", he said.  That was the point of today's debate, which was going to continue.

Mr. Okitundu went on to say that the trend seemed to be in favour of extending the mandate of the Panel of Experts in the hope that they would be able to refine their data and round it out.  The Council would meet again when the Panel finished its work.  On the basis of the addendum, the Council would decide what measures needed to be implemented against the countries that were illegally exploiting the resources of his country.

Another correspondent noted that the Panel had listed quite a number of companies, individuals and government officials who had obtained illegal concessions.  She wanted to know what would happen to such concessions once peace had been restored.

Responding, the Foreign Minister said that, on the one hand, if there were contracts that had been signed illegally with the aggressor countries, then obviously the law would be applied.  Any contract that was concluded illegally would simply have to be annulled, that was obvious.

The Foreign Minister was then asked for his reaction to the explanations given this morning to the Security Council by the countries accused in the Panel's report.  Mr. Okitundu said the only thing that could be deemed positive was the fact that a commission of enquiry should be set up.  "But imagine if Uganda runs such a commission –- that is something from the realms of fantasy", he observed.

Uganda, when accused, had tried to defend itself, remarked Mr. Okitundu.  Of course the commission should have been set up a long time ago.  It was not something that should have waited until the report of the panel of experts was published.  "That is how we see the statements from the morning –- they have to defend themselves because they have been accused", he said.  Reactions should also be based on the facts.  What was important right now was the insecurity of his country's frontiers and what "we feel is the threat from neighbouring countries".

He hoped there would be sanctions instigated against the three countries accused in the report.

Another correspondent asked the Foreign Minister whether he had particular requests concerning the companies or countries like Belgium that were implicated. Mr. Okitundu said that he had asked the Council for the implementation of protective measures for all products transiting through third countries, "shell" or holding companies, or any entities that operated illegally in his country.  "I think there should be an embargo on all products that have been attained from the Democratic Republic of the Congo through illicit means", he said.