Cape Town, 25/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - At its plenary session in Cape Town, the ACP-EU Joint Assembly adopted a resolution on the situation in Central Africa and in the Great Lakes Region. It noted with satisfaction the decision for the resumption of cooperation between the European Union and Burundi and calls for it to be swift and effective for rebuilding the country. The Assembly called for combatants to be disarmed and demobilised, for free movement of persons and goods to be guaranteed and for foreign troops to withdraw from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC). Finally, it insisted that MONUC be equipped and mandated as soon as possible to locate and identify the armed groups operating in DRC and that it be given a strong mandate to organise all the negotiations necessary for their disarmament, repatriation and reintegration. It voiced the hope that inter-Congolese dialogue would culminate in a new political order and new institutions. The Assembly welcomed the improved relations between Uganda and Rwanda and the efforts by their Presidents to ease tension between their countries. It encouraged Rwanda to continue its efforts to integrate former rebels into civil society and the army, in addition to the 18,000 rebels already integrated to date. It called once again for the convening of an international conference on the Great Lakes region. Concerning the Central African Republic, the Assembly condemned all use of arms to seize power and called on the government to organise a fair process for defendants and to promote national reconciliation. It also welcomed the reconciliation agreement concluded in Chad.
Responding to several speakers who had called on the Commission to provide greater support for the Great Lakes region, and in particular the DRC, Commission representative Mr Theodorakis stated: "We have made every effort to support the process, but the last meeting on Congolese dialogue led to defeatism. In the absence of political will by all the parties, we can do nothing more."