PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT OF DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

The Democratic Republic of the Congo was now, had always been, committed to peace, Joseph Kabila, that country's President, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this evening. 

It was the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who were suffering, not those from Rwanda or Uganda, the President said.  In order to achieve peace, democracy and stability, the forces of aggression must leave the Congo.  That had always been his country's demand and it had always been a point of contention.  His country's position was the same -- those forces must leave.

President Kabila was taking questions from correspondents after addressing the Security Council this afternoon.  He addressed a number of subjects, including the Lusaka peace process, the inter-Congolese dialogue, reconstruction of the Democratic Republic and the need for it to regain its territorial integrity following the invasion by Rwandan and Ugandan forces, the deployment of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), and the recent assassination of his father, former President Laurent Kabila.

The President was introduced by Shashi Tharoor, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.  In his opening remarks,     Mr. Tharoor noted that Mr. Kabila had been sworn in on 26 January and had come to United Nations Headquarters within 10 days of taking office.  He also said the President had a productive and constructive meeting with the Secretary-General today.

In response to a question on renewing the inter-Congolese dialogue, the President said Congolese should get together to discuss problems linked to the war and to the democratization of the country.  The process undertaken at Libreville, Gabon, had been the first step, and the process would continue.

Following another question, the President said the time had come for the Congolese to begin to think about the reconstruction of their country.  To do this, the Democratic Republic had to regain its territorial integrity, which had been undermined by the invasion of Rwanda and Uganda. 

Addressing the subject of relaunching the Lusaka peace process and the "ambiguities" of the peace agreement, he said that in the Lusaka Agreement it had been envisioned that MONUC would be deployed everywhere.  After a year, this still hadn't happened.  Many areas were controlled by Rwandan, Ugandan and Burundian forces, he noted.

He said the Lusaka Agreement would be discussed to find a point where it could be relaunched -- "so far, we have been at a standstill with this Agreement", he said.

In the weeks to come, consultations would take place with his country's allies, who were in the Democratic Republic to help the Congolese people, to see "where we should start".  Meetings were scheduled for the next few days.

Regarding the deployment of MONUC, the President said "MONUC has been given the green light to deploy where it is supposed to deploy."  There had been many contradictions in the past.  Those stumbling blocks had been removed for the past one or two months.  He was waiting to see MONUC come to terms with this reality and start deploying.

Returning to the subject of the inter-Congolese dialogue, and whether or not it would proceed under former President of Botswana Ketumile Masire, he said the Congolese people might not need anyone's presence in order to talk -- they could discuss the country's future with or without Mr. Masire.  "Of course, if and when his good offices are needed, we will have to get over the contradiction that led to the, if you will allow me to use the word, 'suspension’", he said.  The question of whether or not Mr. Masire would be there to mediate was one of the questions that must be discussed. 

In response to a question about his address to the Security Council earlier today and the nature of his recent visits to Paris and Washington, President Kabila said he had seen his travels as an opportunity to tell the truth.  He wanted the international community to know the Congolese version of the truth: that the Democratic Republic of the Congo was now, and had been for over three years, under occupation.  The people of the region wanted peace, a stage that could only be reached if the forces of Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi left the country.

He went on to say that his trips would be beneficial to his country.  He had received many promises of cooperation.  Now, it would remain to be seen whether those promise would be kept.

A correspondent said that, in the past, there had been reports that the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo charged the United Nations Mission there high prices for materials and supplies purchased locally.  Would that practice change under his administration?  President Kabila said that he was not aware that the Government had been charging the Mission exorbitant prices.  He added that, while his nation was at war and wars were costly, such costs would not be paid by the United Nations.

Another correspondent wondered if the President planned to address the security concerns of Rwanda and Uganda, so that those countries might feel empowered to leave his country.  He said that in his address to the Security Council earlier today, he had stressed that the international community should recognize that no country should be given the opportunity to invade another under the pretext of security concerns.  He asked if that were allowed to occur, what kind of world order would be created,

He said that he was unaware of any security problems with Uganda.  But the problems with Rwanda had not been created by the Congolese.  His country never crossed the border to attack Rwanda.  He felt that any problems that existed stemmed from the genocide of 1994.  However, it was not for the Democratic Republic of the Congo to guarantee the safety of any other country.  Rather, it was for the international community to come to terms with the fact that it had failed to assume its duties during the genocide.

He said that many countries, including South Africa, Gabon and the United Republic of Tanzania, had proposed initiatives aimed at helping his country.  "All

initiatives are welcomed by the Congolese people", he said, "as long as they lead us to peace."

Asked to give some details about his background and explain what his military experience might bring to the presidency, he said that, while he did not have the time to go into specifics, he had spent nearly 10 years in the military, and since 1997 he had been consistently working for change in the region.

Regarding the country's economic situation, President Kabila said "we are resisting those who are fighting a war of aggression".  In his capacity as President, in consultation with the Ministry of Finance, he had deemed it necessary to take steps to liberalize the economy, particularly in the critical areas –- the mining and the financial sectors.  Those measures had been taken with the high expectation that the economy would get back on its feet.

Regarding his meeting yesterday in Washington with the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, he said he had stressed to him that the Rwandan forces in the Congo were not welcome -- they were forces of aggression and should leave.  The Rwandan President had tried to explain why those forces were in the Congo.  The meeting had served as a starting point for the beginning of a discussion of the problems between the two countries.

President Kabila said that reports of the incidents surrounding his father's assassination had been correct.  The former President had indeed been shot three times and killed in his office by a bodyguard.  That bodyguard was shot trying to flee the scene.  Investigations were under way, he said, and within two or three weeks, the new Government would know exactly who was behind the assassination.

President Kabila was asked if there was any evidence that outside forces had been involved.  He said that was a possibility that could not be ruled out.

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