Cablegate: Media Reaction Drc Peace Pact; Harare

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS HARARE 001785

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR INR/R/MR, AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KPAO ZI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION DRC PEACE PACT; HARARE

1. Under headline "DRC peace pact: not another mirage,
please" the independent "Daily News" dedicated its August 2
editorial to persuading the leaders of Rwanda and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to implement their
peace deal, saying "this pact cannot be allowed to
evaporate like another mirage." Excerpts:

2. "Last Tuesday, Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda,
and Joseph Kabila, the President of the DRC, signed
a memorandum of understanding on the way to end the
four-year conflict in that vast country. . .What is
crucial for the pact to succeed is for both South
Africa and U. N. to convince the two leaders that if
the fighting continues. . .their respective
countries will sink deeper and deeper into the
morass of poverty, driving into the distant future
the prospect of their people ever enjoying the
fruits of the independence their countries won in
the 1960s. Kagame and Kabila must be convinced that
this pact cannot be allowed to evaporate like
another mirage. . . Kagame and Kabila will need to
display tremendous courage, tolerance and even
statesmanship if they are to save their people from
the further punishment of senseless killings. . . ."

SULLIVAN

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