Great Lakes leaders promise peace

DR Congo's civil war has inflicted untold suffering

Presidents of the Great Lakes region in Africa have signed a declaration designed to bring peace to the region.

Fifteen leaders signed the accord on security, democracy and development at a summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said leaders who faced each other in armed conflict had come together to back a "common vision of peace".

Millions have died in inter-related regional conflicts that erupted in the region after the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

'Test'

"We, the African leaders have agreed to rededicate ourselves for peace and development of our continent," said Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the current chairman of the African Union, which organised the two-day summit.

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"Never, and never again, shall we allow any despots or any tyranny in our continent," he said.

Mr Annan who travelled to Tanzania to attend the summit, after leaving a UN Security Council meeting on Sudan in neighbouring Kenya, said it had taken 10 years to get the leaders round the same table.

"It is in the months to come, as you strive towards collecting the dividend of peace through a comprehensive security, stability and development pact, that your commitment will meet its greatest test," he told the summit.

Remaining tensions

Present were heads of state from DR Congo, Kenya, Sudan, Burundi, Malawi, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

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The war in DR Congo

Following the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, in which 500,000 people from the country's Tutsi minority were killed by militants from the Hutu majority, large numbers of Hutu rebels fled into eastern DR Congo.

They launched raids on Rwanda which helped to trigger a Rwandan invasion of DR Congo in 1996.

Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi invaded DR Congo in 1998 to back Congolese rebels, sparking a war that drew in other African nations and led to the deaths of an estimated 3.3 million people.

LEADERS AT SUMMIT DR Congo, Kenya, Sudan, Burundi, Malawi, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Republic of Congo and Central African Republic

The conflict ended in June 2003, but simmering regional tensions were re-ignited in June 2004, when Congolese rebels - who Kinshasa says are backed by Rwanda - briefly seized the eastern DR Congo town of Bukavu.

BBC correspondent Will Ross in Dar es Salaam says many question whether such agreements can make a difference on the ground.

He points out that conflicts are continuing to cause misery in Burundi, DR Congo, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

The new declaration calls for demobilisation programmes to deal with remaining armed bands and prevent the supply of arms.

It also seeks to establish a framework for economic development.