The African Union reaffirms its support to the efforts aimed at promoting peace and security in the Great Lakes Region

Addis Ababa, 12 September 2014: Within the framework of the African Union (AU) support to the process of implementing of the Peace, Security and Cooperation (PSC) Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Region, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ambassador Smail Chergui, travelled to Kigali, Rwanda, from 3 to 4 September, 2014, as well as to Luanda, Angola, and Kinshasa, DRC, from 7 to 10 September 2014.  He was accompanied by the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission for the Great Lakes Region, Ambassador Boubacar Gaoussou Diarra.

During this tour, Ambassador Chergui was received by Presidents Paul Kagame and Jose Eduardo dos Santos. He also held talks with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda and Angola. In the DRC, the Commissioner was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and other senior government officials. 

The talks were an opportunity to take stock of the implementation process of the PSC Framework for the DRC and the region. The Commissioner was encouraged by the commitment of all his interlocutors to pursue and enhance the efforts to promote lasting peace, security, development and cooperation in the Great Lakes Region. In this regard, the urgency of neutralizing all the negative forces, in particular the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), was stressed, in the  context of the final communiqué of the mini-Summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), held in Luanda, on 14 August 2014, as well as of the communiqué of the 34^th Summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on 17 and 18 August 2014, which gave an ultimatum of six months, as from 2 July 2014, for the surrender and the voluntary disarmament of the FDLR, failing which force will be used to neutralize this group.

Ambassador Chergui, on behalf of the Chairperson of the Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, reiterated the determination of the AU to continue to support the countries of the Region in the implementation of the PSC Framework. In this regard, and within the framework of the relevant decisions of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) and other relevant AU bodies, the Commission will spare no effort to assist in ensuring the conclusion of the ongoing process.

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