Leaders Gather to Bolster Congo Accord

President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo met with five other African leaders in Algiers in a fresh bid to shore up a cease-fire in the continent’s third-biggest country. The meeting, chaired by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, current chairman of the Organization of African Unity, is being attended by Kabila and the presidents of Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique and Mali. Six African nations fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire, signed a peace deal in Zambia last year, but armed clashes have continued. Uganda and Rwanda are supporting rebels fighting to oust Kabila, whose army in turn is backed by Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia. At a meeting in Uganda in early April, the warring parties reaffirmed the cease-fire, and a new truce took effect April 14. The Algiers summit will seek to give momentum to the accord, Algerian state-run radio said.