U.S. Water News Online
KINSHASA, Congo -- The Congolese government agreed Monday to reopen the Congo river to commercial and civilian traffic, a move that will restore important links between key cities in the vast central African nation divided by a nearly 4-year war.
After signing the U.N.-sponsored agreement, Transport Minister Dakalwardino Wakale said the move will open Congo's economy.
Rebel groups which control northern and northeastern Congo agreed to the reopening of the river last month.
The United Nations has been pushing for the reopening of the 2,900-mile Congo River, navigable from the capital to the northernmost port city of Kisangani, which is under rebel control.
The river is crucial to support 2,100 U.N. troops and 200 civilians who will be deployed in the eastern Congolese town of Kindu to disarm the armed groups in Congo.
The United Nations also plans to deploy 1,200 more troops and civilians at the logistical base in Kisangani to support the operation that could last up to two years.
``This is evidence that the Congolese are serious about reunifying their country,'' said Amos Namanga Ngongi, U.N Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative to Congo.
U.N. river units will accompany the first boats using the river.
The war broke out in Congo in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda sent troops in support of Congolese rebels fighting to oust then-President Laurent Kabila. Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia sent troops to back the government.
The U.N. Security Council began its third visit to Africa recently to push for an end to the war in Congo, just days after the collapse of talks on Congo's political future raised the specter of renewed fighting.
The government reached a deal with the Ugandan-backed rebel Congolese Liberation Movement on the sidelines of the talks held in Sun City, South Africa, but the agreement was rejected by the Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy, or RCD.
The RCD is the largest rebel group and controls Kisangani.
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