Sources: AllAfrica, AfroInfodoc, Le Soir, De Standaard
October 13, 2001
-During a meeting in Uganda's capital Kampala, three rebel groups, MLC, RCD-Goma and RCD-ML, discussed a common front to capture 'negative forces'.
October 15, 2001
-A preliminary round of the inter-Congolese dialogue began as scheduled on Monday in Addis Abeba (Ethiopia). But adequate cash flow is an obstacle to beginning full-scale talks. For this reason facilitator Masire has fixed the number of participants for this meeting at 80 instead of the originally proposed 300. According to AFP, Kabila decided not to attend the opening of the discussions believing they would only be of a technical nature to resolve outstanding matters such as inclusion of the Mayi-Mayi militias and the Ugandan-backed splinter RCD-ML.
Previously Kabila, delivering an address on television, called for open and democratic elections to be held as soon as possible. But the Rwandan-backed RCD rebels have rejected this proposal, preferring to capture government posts as result of the inter-Congolese dialogue.
October 18, 2001
-Special UN Rapporteur of Human Rights in the DRC, Roberto Garreton, has taken his leave in a letter to the Congolese people. He recommends to investigations of the massacres executed in Congo in 1996 and 1997 as a point of interest for his successor.
-The meeting in Addis Abeba has become a failure, the only consensus being that the dialogue should be move to South Africa at a future date.
October 23, 2001
-Renegade UPDF officers have formed a rebel group, the People's Redemption Army, which is training and camped in the Rwanda-controlled part of eastern Congo, near the place of Kanyabayonga that is just conquered by Rwandans defeating the Ugandans. PRA is lead by col. Kyakabale and col. Samson Mande, who have the support of the Rwandan army.
October 25, 2001
-In the past two weeks, more than 6000 Congolese have fled South Kivu across Lake Tanganyika to Tanzania. They are reporting heavy fighting by many armed groups including RCD-Goma and Mayi-Mayi.
-The UN Security Council supported initiation of the next phase of MONUC. The number of troops will be 5000, the intended ceiling of the mission. This phase, Phase III, involves the total withdrawal of all foreign troops from the DRC territory, the disarmament etc. of the armed groups. On the subject of disarmament, the special UN representative for the Congo Ngongi said that, as a result of discussions with the Kinshasa government, MONUC had sent a team to Kamina to continue efforts to demobilise and repatriate the 3000 Rwandans former combatants there.
October 29, 2001
-Joseph Kabila has left for a trip to the US, Belgium and France, accompanied by his minister of Economic Affairs, Finances and Budget, Matungulu Mbuyambu.
October 30,2001
-The Rwandan and Ugandan Defence ministers agreed to relocate dissident army officers exiled in either country in an attempt to ease tensions between the two former allies. The dissidents would be relocated to third countries with help of the UNHCR. This agreement was facilitated by the British government. Previously, Museveni has asked the British government in a letter to support increase of his military budget because of the risk of a Rwandan attack against Uganda.
-Two rebel movements, RCD-Goma and MLC, have agreed to form a joint military force "to disarm the negative forces". Delegations of the 2 movements submitted their plan to Kagame, who encouraged them to continue to work together.
-A group of British parliamentarians, the so-called the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes and Genocide Prevention, has published a report after a visit to Congo from 2 - 6 August. They warn that a humanitarian disaster in the DRC is unfolding on a vast scale and urges the UK government to broker a substantially increased aid package for the DRC, via ngo's and UN agencies. They also recommended that British and European bilateral aid in the Great Lakes region must be linked to cessation of illegal exploitation of natural resources.
October 31, 2001
-Uganda has stopped the planned withdrawal of its remaining soldiers and heavy equipment from the Congolese towns of Gbadolite, Buta and Banalia. The demarche of Bemba to ally with the RCD and Kigali, and the fear to loss its influence in the region, has led up to this decision.
November 1, 2001
-Representatives of Kimberley Process countries and institutions met for three days in Luanda, Angola, to discuss "blood diamonds" trade. In a communique the countries said there had been agreement on a range of controls, which member states would apply within their own countries to provide a firm basis for the eventual certification scheme that would control traffic between the states. The latest details will be worked out at the end of the month in Gabarone, Botswana.
-Joseph Kabila declared, after a meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, that there are no obstacles at the moment and that he believes that everybody is committed to peace. Kabila was in the US for meetings with US government officials and to participate in the US-Africa Business Summit held in Philadelphia, organised by the Corporate Council for Africa.
-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, said in her latest report that ongoing conflict in Congo has had major impact on the human right situation in the country with torture reported in government- as well as rebel-held areas.
November 6, 2001
-The EU has rejected a motion by the DRC to cut off development assistance to Uganda. The motion was presented at the joint parliamentary assembly of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) and the European Union. The DRC also called on the Worldbank and the IMF to stop subsidising budgets of countries involved in the Congo conflict, until the end of hostilities.
-In South Kivu, insecurity seriously hampered World Food Program's planned operations in the plains of Ruzizi and Uvira. Houses in places like Kalonge have been systematically looted by armed groups, while movements of troops have resulted in new population displacements.
-The Ugandan government received the interim report by the Porter commission that was set up by Museveni to investigate plundering of Congolese resources made public by a UN report.
-Kabila made a brief visit to Paris, where he met with president Chirac and Foreign minister Hubert Vedrine. Chirac emphasised the need for the withdrawal of uninvited troops from Congo. He encouraged Kabila to pursue the Inter-Congolese dialogue and urged international financial institutions to release aid that has promised to the country.
The EU has yet to release $ 108 million for the DRC, while the World Bank is due to release a $50-million grant to invigorate the shattered Congolese economy.
Next day, Kabila held lengthy discussions with Belgian Prime Minister Verhofstadt and Foreign Minister Michel. Verhofstadt promised that Belgium would continue to put efforts to achieve peace in the DRC at the top of the European agenda. He announced that an EU delegation consisting of Michel, EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten and EU Foreign Policy High Representative Javier Solana would visit the Great Lakes region from 20 -26 November.
-The chefs coutumiers of the 11 Congo provinces have met in Kinshasa to talk about the peace process. In a common declaration they demand their own representatives at the inter-Congolese dialogue.
November 7, 2001
-President Museveni of Uganda and Kagame of Rwanda met for talks in London, convened by the British government, to try to cool the growing tension between the two countries. They vowed to set up mechanisms to improve their relations by insuring that dissident groups do not destabilise each other's governments.
November 14, 2001
-Angolan Foreign Minister Miranda told the UN Security Council that a substantial number of Angolan troops have been withdrawn from the DRC. He also said that it would be imperative to implement UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of forces that have not been invited in the DRC and on the demilitarisation of Kisangani.
-Special UN Representative for Congo, Amos Namanga Ngongi, presented to the Security Council his report about the situation of MONUC. In Kisangani, he hopes to replace the rebel troops of the RCD, if they are ready to withdraw, and to work on forming of the necessary police forces in the city. Ngongi is disquiet about the initiative of the rebel movements, RCD-Goma and MLC, for a common military force in Kindu, a place where MONUC plans to deploy its troops. Concerning the DDRRR (disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, reintegration, resettlement) Ngongi said MONUC has inspected 1780 disarmed Hutu in Congolese army camp Kamina. The total number of MONUC troops is now 3352.
November 19, 2001
7000 Rwandan refugees have crossed into Uganda since the beginning of 2001, according to the US Committee for Refugees.
Uganda has raised his military spending in 2000/01 with 11,5 %.
-An Addedum to the April report of the UN panel of experts on the illegal exploitation of natural resources in Congo has recommended imposing a moratorium on the purchase and import of certain precious commodities from the Congo. According to the report a wide array of interests has ensured that the war remains a self-financing affair. While the parties to the conflict in the country may have been originally motivated by security concerns, they have remained in Congo largely for economic gain. (See Topics) Both the Ugandan and Rwandan government have rejected the arguments of the UN-report.
November 23, 2001
-European parliamentarians gathered November 21 in Brussels to forge a common policy on resolving crisis in the Great Lakes region. The 11 parliamentarians belong to various political parties from Belgium, Britain, France and the Netherlands, and to the European Parliament. They discussed the conclusions and recommendations of the October report of British parliamentarians.
The MP's said the problems of DRC, Rwanda and Burundi are interlinking and only a regional approach can solve the conflict in any one of these countries. According to the MP's a common EU position will give better leverage than separate policies. They urge the European governments to prioritise the humanitarian tragedy in the Great Lakes region as a whole, especially in eastern Congo.
-Belgium has established a commission to investigate the involvement of Belgian companies in the illegal trade of natural resources of the DRC. The commission is composed of 15 members from various Belgian political parties under the leadership of Liberal Party Senator Andre Geens.
November 29, 2001
In Gabarone, Botswana, has ended the meeting of participants of the Kimberley Process reaching a tentative agreement to help stem the illegal trade in blood diamonds. The agreement will be presented to the UN in December, although some issues surrounding the monitoring and evaluation of a certification scheme still needed to be worked on.
-In the surroundings of Bunia, the tension between different ethnic groups has been raised last time. Clashes took place between Lendu/Ngiti and Hema/Ngerere bringing dead to more than 100 people.
-In Butembo, as well as in Beni, Mayi-Mayi is fighting against RCD-Kisangani of Mbusa Nyamwisi.
December 6, 2001
-Talks between the Congolese government and rebel groups opened December 4 in Nigerian capital, Abuja, under the auspices of the UN.
-The Special UN Representative in Congo, Ngongi, has confirmed that the Rwandan Patriotic Army was reinforcing its troops in different places: Isiro, Fizi and Kalemie and to the end was recruiting young people. He fears a major confrontation in the region.
-The new appointed Special UN Rapporteur for Human Rights in Congo is named: Ms. Iulia-Antoanella Motoc, of Rumanian nationality.
December 10,2001
-Some western firms have quitted eastern Congo following UN reports of illegal activities in purchase and trade of precious minerals looted from Congo. It concerns the German freight firm Interfreight and SDV, hitherto involved in transporting coltan from eastern Congo to Dar-es-Salaam and Mombasa ports. US firm Komet Cobot Corp and Belgian firm SOGEM, both coltan dealers, have also left.
December 12, 2001
-The meeting between government and rebels in Abuja has resulted in the following agreement:
1. number of participants of the inter-Congolese dialogue will be 300
2. quota of the government, RCD-Goma, MLC and non-armed opposition will be 55
3. quota of the civil society will be increased to 66 and will include religious leaders and Mai-Mai representatives
4. chefs coutumiers are part of the delegations of the government and rebel movements,
5. Congolese from the diaspora and a number of new political parties will be included in the non-armed opposition.
December 14, 2001
-EU leaders, gathered at the EU-summit in Brussels, decided to restart aid to Congo. Next January, they will sign a document releasing funds to Kinshasa under the so-called Indicative National Program.
chronicle 9, september 29 -october 12 1997
chronicle 10, october 13 - october 26 1997
chronicle 11, october 27 - november 9, 1997
chronicle 12, november 10 -november 23 1997
chronicle 13, november 24 -december 7 1997
chronicle 14, december 8 1997 - january 4 1998
chronicle 15, january 5 - january 18 1998
chronicle 16, january 19 - february 1 1998
chronicle 17, february 2 - february 15 1998
chronicle 18, february 16 - march 1 1998
chronicle 19, march 2 - march 15 1998
chronicle 20, march 16 - march 29 1998
chronicle 21, march 30 - april 26 1998
chronicle 22, april 27 - mei 10 1998
chronicle 23, mei 11 - mei 31 1998
chronicle 24, juni 1 - august 26 1998
chronicle 25, august 27 - september 28 1998
chronicle 26,september 29- october 31 1998
chronicle 27, november 1- december 5 1998
chronicle 28, december 6 - january 24 1999
chronicle 29, january 25 - march 14 1999
chronicle 30, march 15 - may 9 1999
chronicle 31, may 10 - october 24 1999
chronicle 32, october 25 - january 9 2000
chronicle 33, january 10 - april 2 2000
chronicle 34, april 3 - june 25 2000
chronicle 35, june 26 - august 27 2000
chronicle 36, august 28 - october 29 2000
chronicle 37, october 30 - january 14 2001
chronicle 38, january 15 - march 18 2001
chronicle 39, march 19 - may 20 2001
chronicle 40, may 21 - july 15 2001
chronicle 41, july 16 - october 8 2001