Mandela to broker peace in Congo

WITH RWANDA warning that it is prepared for war and Angolan and Zimbabwean troops poised to intervene in the Rwandan-backed rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Nelson Mandela of South Africa will today made a desperate attempt to broker a deal to avert a regional catastrophe.

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe became the first foreign leader to send troops to the Congo to prop up the regime of President Laurent Kabila against the rebels. It said Namibia had already flown weapons to the Congo capital, Kinshasa, to aid Mr Kabila.

Yesterday there were reports of Angolan troops gathering in the enclave of Cabinda, on the Congolese border, near rebel-held territory. Fears are growing that their intervention against the rebels could result in spreading war across central Africa.

The risks are soaring two days after Mr Mugabe split the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) with his promise of foreign military aid to Kabila. A South African analyst said: "If the violence continues, it will consume us all."

With Mr Mandela hosting a summit today between Mr Kabila, President Pasteur Bizimungu of Rwanda, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda - the second outside sponsor of the rebellion - and Mr Mugabe, the analyst added that he hoped the leaders would "see sense". Mr Mandela, chairman of the SADC and critic of Mr Mugabe's move, will host a second meeting, of the SADC's 14 members, tomorrow.

In Kinshasa, diplomats said they expected the world powers to stay out of the crisis and that Mr Mandela's initiative was the best hope. "The question now is whether overt Zimbabwean support will encourage overt Rwandan support," said a diplomat. "If things turn in one direction one can see the whole continent at war."

In Kinshasa there is talk of partition of the Congo, formerly Zaire, if the rebels closing on Kinshasa take it and Mr Kabila flees to his tribal base in Katanga. The political balance in the region has also been shaken by the US strikes against Sudan. America supports Uganda, which is fighting several Sudanese-backed rebel groups that have been using Congolese territory in their war with Uganda, leading Uganda to back last year's rebellion in the former Zaire. The rebellion installed Mr Kabila and overthrew the former dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko.

Mr Kabila's failure to secure the borders of his former sponsors - Uganda and Rwanda - prompted their attempt to oust him. Rwanda is furious that Mr Kabila has failed to stop the Hutu militiamen responsible for the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and who have been using eastern Congo as a base.