Issued by: The Department of Foreign Affairs
JOINT PRESS STATEMENT MADE BY THE MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF KENYA, SOUTH AFRICA, ZIMBABWE AND TANZANIA ON 20 FEBRUARY 1997
In exercise of the decisions of the Nairobi 11 summit on the crisis in the Great Lakes Region, Kenya's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Hon SK Musyoka, led a Ministerial delegation to Kinshasa, Zaire on 18 and 19 February 1997. The delegation consisted of the Foreign Ministers of Zimbabwe, Tanzania and South Africa as well as the Secretary General of the OAU and Kenya's Envoy to the Great Lakes region. Congo and Cameroon were represented by their respective Ambassadors.
During their visit, the Ministerial delegation updated the Zairean authorities on issued raised during the Pretoria meeting on 27 ad 28 January in which South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Cameroon, Congo and Tanzania had participated. These included: respect for territorial integrity ad inviolability of national borders, immediate cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of foreign troops. These issues had formed the basis of discussions of Nairobi 1 and 11 summits and were also incorporated into the UN Security Resolution of 19 February 1997 on the Great Lakes Region.
In their meetings with Zairean authorities, the Ministers further proposed that the implementation of the UN Peace Plan could be discussed within the context of an enlarged regional summit (Nairobi 111) in which it was hoped Zaire would participate. The Ministers also emphasized the African leaders' commitment to preserving Zaire's territorial integrity and to finding a peaceful means to resolve the crisis.
In turn, the Zairean autho briefed the delegation extensiv on developments in Eastern Zaire.
Finally, the meeting proposed that in preparation for a possible Nairobi 111, the four Heads of State mandated by Nairobi 11 would need to consult on issues to form the agenda for such a summit.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 20 FEBRUARY 1997