Congo Peace Summit Postponed

A peace summit to end Congo’s civil war was postponed Saturday as negotiators wrangled over conditions for a cease-fire. Outside mediators still hoped to salvage a deal “within days.”

Congolese rebel leaders met face to face with government officials for the first time in weeks, fueling hopes that a full-scale summit was still in the offing, said Salim Ahmed Salim, secretary general of the Organization of African Unity.

Salim added that all the warring parties were at the meeting Saturday. “There are still problems, but there is a spirit of give and take,” he said.

“We have great expectations that at long last there will be a breakthrough . . . and a summit within days,” Salim said.

The mediators have been trying to nail down a peace deal to resolve the civil war in Congo, which has become a regional concern with neighboring governments sending troops and other aid to the warring sides.

Rwanda and Uganda have supported the rebels, who control the eastern third of the country, while President Laurent Kabila’s government has been backed by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Chad recently withdrew troops fighting on behalf of Kabila.

Zambia, South Africa, Kenya, Libya and Tanzania have been working to broker a peace deal between the warring parties. South Africa has reportedly offered troops to help implement a cease-fire.

Presidents from the nations involved in Africa’s biggest war had been scheduled to meet in Lusaka on Saturday to sign a cease-fire to end the nearly 11-month-old conflict.

But first, defense and foreign ministers must agree on a cease-fire. Salim said the ministers will meet after talks among other officials, continuing Saturday, were completed.

The proposed accord would establish a cease-fire, the withdrawal of foreign troops, the disarming of rebel forces and the deployment of regional or U.N.-sponsored peacekeepers.

But on Saturday, Uganda objected to a proposal that its forces and Rwandan troops withdraw before Kabila’s allies leave Congo, officials said.

Rwanda also demanded guarantees that ethnic Hutu Rwandan rebels fighting alongside Congolese government forces be disarmed and repatriated.

Many of the Hutu extremists were responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda that left more than 800,000 people dead. The Hutus fled Rwanda into Congo, formerly Zaire, when Tutsi rebels took control of Rwanda and have fought the Tutsi government ever since.