The Lusaka accord is the best chance yet to tackle the roots of Central Africa's interlocking wars if it wins Western backing
In Lusaka, African diplomats and army commanders have produced a fair and far-reaching plan to end the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (AC Vol 40 No 14). It may have no better than a 50 per cent chance of success, probably less if Europe and the United States fail to give it serious financial and diplomatic support. Yet it is the most credible attempt so far to break the cycle of violence that erupted in Congo's eastern Kivu province, following the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Whatever its fate on the ground, the Lusaka accord is likely to survive as a template for peacemaking in Africa's most complex war.
The 2-year alliance between Museveni and Kagame is in trouble over Congo strategy
In the late 1970s, the old Front Patriotique Rwandais (then exiled in Uganda and Tanzania) had joined forces with Museveni's National Resistance Movement to help oust two Ugandan P...
Rising violence forces Buyoya to rethink tactics at the Arusha peace talks
There has also been bitter fighting in Bujumbura itself, where about 60 people died on 28 August including, according to the army, 20 of the Hutu rebels who started it. Even the of...