DR CONGO: FOUR NEW VICE PRESIDENTS ARE SWORN IN PARLIAMENT, INAUGURATING A POWER SHARING GOVERNMENT.

Record ID: 267133

  • Title: DR CONGO: FOUR NEW VICE PRESIDENTS ARE SWORN IN PARLIAMENT, INAUGURATING A POWER SHARING GOVERNMENT.
  • Date: 17th July 2003
  • Summary: (U7) KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (JULY 17, 2003) (REUTERS) -- AUDIO AS INCOMING -- 1. WS: EXTERIOR OF PARLIAMENT. 0.04 2. MLV: PEOPLE QUEUING IN FRONT OF PARLIAMENT. 0.08 3. MV: PEOPLE QUEUING IN FRONT OF ENTRANCE. 0.11 4. WS: INSIDE PARLIAMENT. 0.15 5. MLV: PEOPLE CHANTING. 0.19 6. SCU: LAWMAKERS OPENING CEREMONY. 0.22 7. MLV: FOUR VICE PRESIDENTS STANDING IN LINE. 0.26 8. SCU: PRESIDENT JOSEPH KABILA WATCHING. 0.29 9. SCU: (SOUNDBITE)(French) VICE PRESIDENT JEAN-PIERRE BEMBA, LEADER OF THE MLC REBEL GROUP, SAYING: "I swear solemnly in front of the Congolese nation... 0.34 10. SCU: (SOUNDBITE)(French) VICE PRESIDENT YERODIA ABDOULAYE NDOMBASI, POLITICIAN, SAYING: "...to respect the spirit... 0.39 11. SCU: (SOUNDBITE)(French) VICE PRESIDENT AZARIAS RUBERWA, LEADER OF THE RCD-GOMA REBEL GROUP, SAYING: "...and the words of the global and inclusive agreement..." 0.41 12. SCU: (SOUNDBITE)(French) VICE PRESIDENT Z'AHIDI NGOMA, FROM THE CIVILIAN OPPOSITION, SAYING: "...of the constitution of the transition and of the laws of the Republic." 0.47 13. MLV: THE FOUR VICE PRESIDENTS WALK TOWARDS PRESIDENT JOSEPH KABILA. 0.52 14. MV: MAN WAVING FLAG. 0.54 15. WS: MILITARY WATCHING. 0.57 16. SCU: ON MILITARY WATCHING. 0.59 17. MLV: LAWMAKERS SHAKING HANDS WITH THE FOUR NEW VICE-PRESIDENTS. 1.05 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 1st August 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
  • City:
  • Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of
  • Reuters ID: LVA8MBEQTJGKQN60JFILG59CISE8
  • Story Text: The Democratic Republic of Congo has sworn in four
    vice-presidents, inaugurating a power-sharing government
    intended to end a five-year-old war that has torn the giant
    African country apart.



    The four vice-presidents sworn in on Thursday (July 17)
    included representatives of Democratic Republic of Congo's two
    largest rebel groups, along with a politician close to
    President Joseph Kabila, and a member of the country's
    political opposition.

    The vice-presidents are Jean-Pierre Bemba, leader of the
    MLC rebel group, Azarias Ruberwa from the RCD-Goma rebels,
    Z'Ahidi Ngoma from the civilian opposition and Yerodia
    Abdoulaye Ndombasi. Kabila stays on as president.

    Ministers selected from rebel groups, the political
    opposition and the government have already taken over their
    ministries in the new administration, which is due to meet for
    the first time on Saturday (July 19).

    But fresh fighting in Congo's remote northeast cast
    shadows over the political progress in Kinshasa, as rebels
    claimed at least 54 people were killed in the latest violence.

    Rebels from the PUSIC faction said militias allied to the
    rival Hema and Lendu tribes had been fighting in the
    northeastern Ituri region, just 50 km (30 miles) from Bunia,
    where a multinational force has been deployed to keep the
    peace.

    That force does not have the mandate to go beyond Bunia. A
    permanent United Nations mission in Congo, MONUC, also lacks
    the mandate and the manpower to stop the bloodshed and
    horrific rights abuses swirling through Ituri.

    While the multinational force has brought temporary relief
    to the town of Bunia, the U.N. is under pressure to find a
    wider and more permanent solution to the violence in eastern
    Congo.

    EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is expected to
    report to the Security Council on Friday after touring
    Africa's war-battered Great Lakes this week.

    The war in Congo began in 1998, when Uganda and Rwanda
    invaded to back rebels fighting Kinshasa. Three million people
    have died -- a mainly civilian toll which rights groups say
    is worse than that from any other conflict since World War
    Two.

    The war has dragged in many foreign armies, and numerous
    rebel groups battle for supremacy, backed by regional powers
    who want to maintain their influence in the mineral-rich
    region.


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