The New Times

06/12/07

ADDIS ABABA – President Paul Kagame along with President Museveni of Uganda and President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi yesterday held a Tripartite Plus Joint Commission Heads of State Summit facilitated by the US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was represented by the Minister of State for the Interior, Denis Kalume.

The Heads of State agreed on the need for reinforcement of DRC’s state institutions, particularly those charged with security, in order to find durable solutions to the insecurity in eastern Congo.

The Tripartite Plus countries recommitted to not harbouring or supporting negative forces in the region and concurred on the urgent need to implement existing agreements between member states

The agreements deal with, notably, the disarmament and repatriation of Ex-FAR/Interahamwe currently operating in eastern DRC.

In a short statement issued at the end of the summit, President Kagame, who returned to Kigali yesterday, expressed appreciation to the US government for the support rendered to the peace process in the Great Lakes Region.

The New Times