DR Congo will disarm ethnic Hutu Rwandan militias (ex-Rwandan Armed Forces, FAR and the Interahamwe) on its territory and then Rwanda agrees to withdraw its troops.

1. The Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement of 1999 sets out modalities for the tracking down and disarmament of ex-FAR and Interahamwe forces in the territory of the DRC.

To date, it has not been possible to effectively implement the decisions relating to these armed groups.

2. The Governments of the DRC and the Republic of Rwanda have sought to find an expeditious manner of implementing these decisions.

3. The parties acknowledge that there have been numerous attempts to implement agreements reached between them with regard to this matter.

The parties also acknowledge that the launch of the African Union, recent United Nations resolutions and the involvement of a third party present a window of opportunity to urgently resolve this matter.

By third party, both parties understand this to refer to the UN secretary-general and South Africa, in its dual capacity as chairperson of the African Union and facilitator of this process.

The parties further acknowledge that the resolution of this matter will be a process and not an event.

Genocide

4. The Government of the DRC reaffirms its stated legitimate right that the forces of the government of Rwanda withdraw from the territory of the DRC without delay.

5. The Government of Rwanda reaffirms its readiness to withdraw from the territory of the DRC as soon as effective measures that address its security concerns, in particular the dismantling of the ex-FAR and Interahamwe forces, have been agreed to.

Withdrawal should start simultaneously with the implementation of the measures, both of which will be verified by Monuc (UN Organization Mission to the DRC), JMC (Joint Military Commission) and the third party.

Kinshasa has reacted cautiously to the deal

6. The Interahamwe and ex-FAR armed groups fled to various countries, including the DRC, after participating in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The DRC Government states that it does not wish to have these armed groups present in the territory of the DRC.

The DRC Government does not want its territory to be used as a base for attacks against its neighbouring countries.

7. The DRC Government is ready to collaborate with Monuc, the JMC and any other Force constituted by the third party, to assemble and disarm the ex-FAR and Interahamwe in the whole of the territory of the DRC.

Text of agreement:

8. In this regard, the parties agree as follows:

8.1 The DRC Government will continue with the process of tracking down and disarming the Interahamwe and ex-FAR within the territory of the DRC under its control.

8.2 The DRC Government will collaborate with Monuc and the JMC in the dismantling of the ex-FAR and Interahamwe forces in the DRC.

8.3 The Rwandan Government undertakes to withdraw its troops from the DRC territory, following the process outlined in paragraph 5.

DR Congo has reeled from one disaster to another

This will be according to measures as detailed in the implementation programme.

8.4 That Monuc, acting together with all relevant UN agencies, should be requested to immediately set up processes to repatriate all Rwandese, ex-FAR and Interahamwe to Rwanda, including those in Kamina, in co-ordination with the governments of Rwanda and the DRC.

8.5 The Governments of the DRC and Rwanda would provide the facilitator of this meeting and the UN secretary-general with all the information in their possession relating to these armed groups.

8.6 The third party will take responsibility for verifying whatever information received, through whatever measures deemed necessary.

8.7 The parties agree to accept the verification report from the third party.

8.8 That the UN considers changing the mandate of Monuc into a peace-keeping mission.

8.9 Monuc should immediately proceed to implement Phase 3 of its DDRR and finalise its deployment in the DRC, especially in the eastern part of the territory.

8.10 The Parties agree that their respective governments would put into place a mechanism for the normalisation of the security situation along their common border.

This mechanism may include the presence of an international force to cooperate with the two countries, in the short term, to secure their common border.

8.11 That a bilateral team, facilitated by South Africa and the UN secretary-general, work on a detailed calendar to implement this agreement.

8.12 Both parties commit themselves to accepting the role and findings of the third party in the process of implementing this agreement, and further accept that the commitments and agreements reached in this peace agreement are binding.

This text was reproduced by BBC Monitoring from the South African Press Agency, Sapa.