Congo factions sign deal to end 'Africa's First World War'

The Democratic Republic of Congo moved a step closer to peace yesterday when rebels and the government hammered out a power-sharing deal aimed at ending the four-year conflict.

President Joseph Kabila and the two main rebel factions agreed to form a transitional government that will carry Congo to elections 30 months from now – the first democractic poll since independence from Belgium in 1960.

Both sides described the deal – signed in Pretoria, South Africa, after months of haggling – as a significant breakthrough. Seven foreign armies have been involved in fighting that has led to an estimated 2.5 million mostly civilian deaths since 1998. "It is the best Christmas present we can give our people," Bene M'poko, Congo's ambassador to South Africa, said.

But serious doubts about the durability of the complex pact surfaced almost immediately, some expressed privately by the negotiators.

Under the deal, Mr Kabila will remain as President while four vice-presidency positions will be divided between the government, Congolese opposition and the two main rebel groups – the Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) and the Ugandan-backed Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC).

Crucial details – such as the integration of rebel troops into a national army and the drafting of a new constitution – have yet to be worked out. Wrangling could hold up the formation of a new government for months, or scupper it altogether. "It might take some time before this agreement is applied on the ground," the RCD leader, Adolphe Onusumba, warned.

There is also the prickly question of the Rwandan presence in Congo. Rwanda's Tutsi-led army sparked the war as part of its hunt for the Interahamwe, the Hutu killers who fled into Congo after the 1994 genocide. Now the Hutus say they are ready to return home. But sending them back is proving to be a dangerous task.

Last month the United Nations tried the first demobilisation of 2,000 Hutus in the southern town of Kamina. It was a disaster. Halfway through, some soldiers changed their mind and shot their way out of the camp. Only 670 soldiers went home, while a large armed group is still roaming the bush.

There is, though, evidence that thousands of other Hutus are ready to return peacefully. A recent survey organised by the Swedish organisation Life and Peace International (LPI), estimated that 3,800 combatants and 14,000 civilians were in that position in one province alone.

But LPI has sharply criticised the United Nations mission, known as Monuc, as being dangerously slow. "People just don't trust them," Hans Romkema, of LPI in Bukavu, said.

The UN has retorted that its mission is more complicated than it seems. "It's not as simple as just sending in a helicopter and scooping them all up," a demobilisation officer, Jason Stearns, said.

The new peace deal may strengthen Monuc's hand. The UN Security Council had already raised the troop deployment from 5,537 to 8,700, while the Congolese Communications Minister, Kikaya Bin Karubi, said he expected UN bodyguards would be deployed to protect rebel leaders when they arrive in Kinshasa.

Previous peace initiatives in Congo foundered on mistrust and greed. But this time there are reasons to believe the peace could be real. In recent months almost all foreign troops – from Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola – have withdrawn.

Yesterday's deal represents another diplomatic coup for South Africa, which is carving out a role as an African peacemaker. Only two weeks ago it brokered a ceasefire between warring parties in Burundi.