Issued by: The Department of Foreign Affairs
ZAIRE: SCHEDULED VISIT BY GROUP OF FOREIGN MINISTERS TO KINSHASA FOR DISCUSSIONS WITH THE ZAIREAN AUTHORITIES,
18-19 FEBRUARY 1997 -
In accordance with the decision taken at the recent meeting in Pretoria of Foreign Ministers on the current crisis in the Great Lakes region, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania will be travelling to Kinshasa on 18 February 1997, for talks with the Zairean authorities. The Ministers are expected to be joined in Kinshasa by their colleagues from Cameroon, and the Congo, who also participated in the Pretoria meeting, which took place on 27 ad 28 January 1997, as well as by senior representatives of the OAU.
It will be recalled that at the second regional summit on the present conflict in the Great Lakes area, which took place at Nairobi on 16 December 1996 and which was attended by President Mandela on the invitation of President Moi of Kenya, the two Heads of State, along with Presidents Biya of Cameroon and Mugabe of Zimbabwe, were mandated to assist in finding a peaceful solution to the conflict. This led to the Pretoria meeting of Foreign Ministers already referred to.
The occasion of the visit to Kinshasa will also be used by Minister Nzo to hand over to the Zairean Government humanitarian relief supplies destined for the large number of refugees still present in the country. The supplies will be transported by the South African Air Force. This follows the delivery of similar supplies to the Rwandan Government during December 1996, for distribution among the hundreds of thousands of refugees who were then returning to Rwanda from neighbouring countries. The provision of these supplies is a result of a decision taken by Cabinet towards the end of last year to provide humanitarian assistance to the refugees estimated to have been present in the Great Lakes region at the time.
Issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs PRETORIA 17 February 1997