Lusaka - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday set a defiant tone for Thursday's Congo summit, saying he was not prepared to withdraw his troops in favour of the "aggressors" who had invaded the vast central African country.
"The aggressors must be prepared to withdraw first. We are ready to withdraw our forces, but not in favour of the aggressors," said Mugabe.
The nine signatories to the 1999 Lusaka ceasefire accord, which has never been implemented, are to hold their third summit in the Zambian capital on Thursday.
The 2½-year Congo conflict threatens development and security throughout a wide swath of central and southern Africa. At great cost to its own economy and stability, Zimbabwe has committed more than 10 000 troops to back the Congolese government, which also receives material backing from Angola and Namibia.
Uganda, Rwanda and three rebel groups are fighting the government. Uganda and Rwanda claim Congo - known as Zaire until 1997 - has failed to provide adequate border security and protection against ethnic conflict. Congo's mineral wealth, with diamonds and copper, provides an additional source of conflict.
Speaking to journalists after his arrival in Lusaka, Mugabe lauded the young Congolese President Joseph Kabila, who replaced his assassinated father last month, for beginning on a good note.
"Kabila has started well. It's very good," he said. "A lot depends on what happens here in Africa, in Congo and here in Lusaka".
Kabila was met on Wednesday at the airport by President Frederick Chiluba, who is co-oordinating the DRC peace process, amid tight security and a serenade of "caustic" music played by a rag-tag brass band of Congolese youths who live in Zambia.
Unlike his father, who had a reputation for making other leaders wait and was seen as the major stumbling block to Congolese peace, Kabila arrived 30 minutes early. He bypassed reporters, and was whisked away in an armoured vehicle that he shared with Chiluba.
The younger Kabila has brought fresh hope and avowed commitment to the stalled peace process.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, the main United Nations official for peacekeeping operations, said there have been "no significant" ceasefire violations in Congo in the past three weeks, since the elder Kabila's death, making it the longest period of calm in the past several years.
The UN is prepared to send about 3 000 troops and observers to oversee the withdrawal of foreign troops.
Brewing on the sidelines has been a spat between Chiluba and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who until Tuesday said he refused to attend the summit.
Kagame said that Chiluba had lost his status as an independent mediator because he had allowed Interahamwe militia, suspected in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, to enter Zambia and depart for Congo before a UN tribunal had had a chance to screen them.
The militia allegedly fled into Zambia together with 4 000 loyal Congo troops when the strategic towns of Pweto and Pepa fell into rebel hands in December.
As a token of peace offered to Kagame, Chiluba on Wednesday admitted that Zambia could have made mistakes in handling the issue, and said he was ready to discuss the issue with him.
The Zambian president vowed to remain neutral in the Congolese conflict and respect the sovereignity of other states.
"I spoke to President Paul Kagame and he has confirmed that he will be available for Thursday's summit," Chiluba said. - Sapa-DPA