KINSHASA, MAY 5 (ZENIT.org).- Yesterday the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Nations signed an agreement to cooperate in the deployment of 5,500 members of an observation force, which will check on compliance with the fragile cease-fire agreements signed last year to put an end to the war devastating the Great Lakes region.
The agreement was reached during a visit of members of the U.N. Security Council to Kinshasa, the capital. The mission was led by U.S. ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who said he was guardedly optimistic about the agreement, but he warned that this week's killings and the kidnappings of members of the U.N. directive team in Sierra Leone, might affect the plan signed with the D.R. of the Congo.
The agreement is a new step toward peace, as prior to this, the Congolese government prohibited freedom of movement to those sent by the United Nations to supervise the compliance with the agreements. Although the D.R. of the Congo, and its military allies, Zimbabwe, Angola, and Namibia, as well as Uganda and Rwanda, the principal allies of the Tutsi Bayamulengue guerrillas, all signed the cease-fire last year, shortly thereafter the conflict was rekindled.
Nigeria and South Africa, the two strongest countries in this region of the continent, have offered troops to be deployed along with those of the United Nations. Today, the U.N. Security Council delegation is leaving the country and going to Zambia, and later Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Rwanda.
Moreover, from February 29 to March 11, there was a National Consultation of all the Churches working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. President Laurent Kabila attended the opening of this Consultation, which included the participation of religious leaders of several neighboring countries and delegates of the Conference of Churches of Africa.
At the end of the meeting, a statement was issued entitled "Congolese Religious Leaders: This Is Our Position on the War," which begins: "We, the religious leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, representing the Catholic Church, the Church of Christ in the Congo [a Union of 62 Protestant denominations], the Kimbanguist Church, the Orthodox Church, and the Islamic Community, are saddened by the war that has been lacerating our country since August 2, 1998. This war has had devastating consequences for the Congolese people and the nation's future, and for relations with neighboring countries."
The official opening of the Consultation took place in the Kinshasa Protestant Cathedral. Among the speakers at the inter-religious ceremony were a Muslim leader, two Protestant pastors, Pastor Andre Kayaya of the Kimbanguist Church, Fr. Kahang of the Catholic Church's Justice and Peace Commission, and Bishop Marini, president of the Church of Christ in the Congo.
Bishop Hubert Buse, Episcopal Vicar of Kisangani, appealed to all sectors of the Congolese population to assume responsibility in face of the deteriorating political, social and economic situation of the country.
"We are all prodigal sons. Politicians must work so that people will have access to schools and hospitals. Those in the opposition must play their role correctly as safeguards of power; the armed opposition must be reconciled with the people to put an end to a useless war. The aggressor nations must ask for pardon from our people for the killings and pillage of our resources," Bishop Buse said.
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Bukavu, capital of the border region of Kivu, scene of the war, continues to be held hostage by the Rwandan military, allies of the guerrillas, who denied him permission to return to his diocese on February 12. Neither the petitions of leaders of several Churches in the country, nor statements issued by the European Community and the Italian Episcopal Conference, among others, have succeeded in changing the Rwandan rebels' minds. The Church is persecuted and menaced.
In spite of everything, the local Church was able to organize the National Consultation to cooperate effectively toward the return of peace to this tormented African country. Perhaps the first fruit of this endeavor is the fact that, for the first time, President Kabila accepted the U.N.'s entry into the country and now seems more disposed to dialogue.