Franco-African summit calls for UN force in Zaire

[Reuter / Francois Raitberger]

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (Reuter) - A Franco-African summit
Friday reaffirmed the need for a multinational force to help get
food to war refugees in Zaire, opposing mere food airdrops.
A statement issued at the end of the 46-nation meeting
called for urgent relief for refugees and urged the United
Nations to deploy a multinational force agreed on by the
Security Council last month for eastern Zaire.
It called on the regional states to halt fighting and open
negotiations leading to an international peace conference to
find a lasting solution and a regional ``pact of stability.''
The African countries, faced with a blunt warning that
deficit-cutting rich countries would strike undemocratic
governments out of their aid list, also pledged to work for
social justice and human rights.
French President Jacques Chirac told a news conference the
summit had fostered broad dialogue between the region's
antagonists. The idea of an international peace conference
sponsored by the United Nations and the Organization of African
Unity had ``advanced somewhat,'' he added.
Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda took part in the meeting
which discussed the Great Lakes conflict for four hours
Thursday. Zaire accuses Uganda of aggression, and Rwanda of
backing rebels who have taken a large swath of eastern Zaire.
The statement stressed the need to respect sovereignty, and
Chirac said participants ``unanimously affirmed that the
inviolability of borders must not in any case be called into
question.''
The Declaration of Ouagadougou, if respected, could be a
milestone for a continent plunged in wars, coups and civil
strife, where many countries have been accused of wasting aid
and abusing human rights.