Rebels join Congo's new government

Dozens of ministers in Congo’s new power-sharing government were being sworn in today in a move that is hoped will end a war that has killed more than three million people in five years.

Two rebel leaders and an opposition politician were among four vice presidents sworn in during a ceremony in the capital Kinshasa yesterday, and another 36 ministers and 24 vice ministers were being appointed today.

“A new page of the history of the country will be written, and it will be a rosy one I hope,” government spokesman Vital Kamere said. “There is no more old government and no more rebels. We are all one government.”

The new administration brings together President Joseph Kabila’s supporters, the rebels and the unarmed opposition in a bid to unify a nation the size of Western Europe that has been torn apart by civil war since 1998.

Most significant were the appointments of two rebels leaders – Jean-Pierre Bemba of the Uganda-backed Congolese Liberation Movement and Azarias Ruberwa of the Rwanda-allied Congolese Rally for Democracy – as vice presidents.

Reports of fresh clashes in the country’s especially troubled north-eastern Ituri province cast a shadow over the inaugurations and tomorrow’s first meeting of the new government.

More than 80 people were killed in clashes between rival Lendu and Hema tribal fighters, officials said.

Congo’s riches provide a powerful disincentive for armed factions in the north-east to give up fighting and yield control to a government in Kinshasa.

The war erupted in 1998 when neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda backed Congolese rebels trying to overthrow then-President Laurent Kabila, accusing him of harbouring armed militias that threatened their own security.

Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia stepped in on the government’s side.

Laurent Kabila was assassinated in January 2001 by one of his own bodyguards. He was succeeded by his son Joseph, who pushed ahead with peace efforts, eventually leading to the withdrawal of foreign armies from the country.