MEDIA REACTION DROC; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 002317 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM KPAO KMDR ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION DROC; HARARE ¶1. Under headline "Elusive peace in the DRC" the editorial in the independent, pro-government daily "The Daily Mirror" encouraged the African Union (AU) to take the lead in enforcing the peace deal in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Excerpts: ¶2. "As Zimbabwean and other SADC allied forces withdraw from the DRC, fighting has not stopped in that vast and rich country. . . All this continued suffering is a serious indictment of the UN forces that are supposed to bring peace to the DRC. The reason there is so much violence in the Kivu region is that when the Rwandan forces withdrew from the DRC following an agreement with the Kinshasa government, a power vacuum was created which should have been balanced by UN forces. Unfortunately, the paltry number of UN forces that is in the DRC could not be stretched enough to cover that vast country. So, the withdrawal of both the SADC Allied forces and of the Ugandan and Rwandese forces has not brought the peace that we were all expecting. ". . .But. . .the real challenge is for. . .the AU. . .to take charge of collective security issues in all parts of Africa, and the DRC would be a starting point. It is one thing to look to the UN to enforce the peace deal in the DRC, but it would be more meaningful if the AU were to take control of the situation. It is however disheartening to note that to date, there is no AU plan or statement on peace in the DRC. . ." SULLIVAN