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Military integration essential to Congo peace Last month's shoot-out in Kinshasa between former rival forces stresses the urgency for merging factions International Affairs Editor IF ONE factor is central to the Democratic Republic of Congo avoiding a descent back into civil war, it is progress on the integration of previously warring factions into the new army. The shoot-out last month between President Joseph Kabila's presidential guard and Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) forces loyal to Jean-Pierre Bemba that had not integrated, highlighted the urgency of the process.

Kabila's presidential guard is believed to number between 10000 and 15000, while Bemba's forces are believed to be 6000.

It is hoped that once a new government is in place after the October 29 runoff election, pressure can be brought to bear by other African countries and donors to integrate these forces. Last Friday, the 14th Brigade, more than 4000 in strength, and which is to be integrated with elements of militia factions and the old army, was on parade at its training camp at Rumangabo. The military camp, which a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) team helped to rehabilitate, is a 20-minute ride by helicopter from the North Kivu provincial capital, Goma, and lies close to the Rwandan border. The militias from which the troops are drawn have seen years of conflict. It is in an area that the United Nations force in the Congo, Monuc, places on a threat level of three out of five, indicating that it still feels armed conflict could explode, as some militias are still outside the integration process.

Not all went well during the parade. One private's trousers fell down, but he kept on marching while an officer tried to pull them up. In the end, he had to give up. On the sidelines of the parade, a drunken soldier was taken away by military police. The wooden stocks and hand-grips of many of the troops' AK-47s, which have seen years of use in this humid area, were rotting away. On one, an old cartridge had been welded in place of the bolt to cock the weapon. But the enthusiasm for the occasion and the pride among the troops and their families was tangible. The brass band from the local church played on and the crowd cheered at various times. A South African army colonel, who had visited Rumangabo some months ago, was impressed. They have come a very long way. You can see they are pulling together now. They are very strict on discipline, he said. The parade could give a basis for optimism about the integration of the Congolese army. There is a definite incentive to being in a regular army. For many of the ordinary soldiers, flip-flops, shorts, and T-shirts have been replaced by boots and uniforms. They and their family members, and other members of the community, have access to improved medical care.

At the parade in Rumangabo were South African Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and his Congolese counterpart, Alphonse Onosumba. SA has played a large role in the process of integration, helping first with the identification of soldiers and recently with the rehabilitation of buildings at Rumangabo, another base in the east at Nyaleke, near the Ugandan border, and a military hospital at Goma. Giving soldiers in the Congolese army identification badges has helped save the country paying ghost soldiers from both the militias and the army itself. Kabila's forces originally claimed a strength of about 58000, but after the identification process, only 28000 were identified. A SANDF team implemented a project financed by a 5m grant from the Netherlands to rehabilitate buildings that had been used until 1960 to house troops from Belgium, the former colonial power. New ceilings, roofs, a power supply system, including a system for purified water, were installed. A sick bay was constructed with the help of local labour.

Supplies were bought from SA, locally, and from Rwanda and Uganda. The money was also used to buy ambulances and bakkies for transport. With the election on October 29, a degree of uncertainty has arisen over the integration process. The original plan had been for 18 integrated brigades. So far, 14 have been formed with a total of 45000 troops. But many former combatants remain outside the process and the seven assembly centres must still process large numbers.

The Congo's deputy minister of defence in charge of integration, Mena Bernard, says integration is going well, but too slowly, because of logistical problems due to the size of the country and financial problems. However, much will depend on whether the entire presidential guard and the remnants of Bemba's MLC remain outside the process. Kabila and Bemba held talks last week and elements from both factions, as well as the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) and the Mayi Mayi militia, are now members of a battalion that will make up the new republican guard.

The new government will also have to decide whether to have a smaller, well-equipped and mobile army or a large and static army. The process of downsizing or even restricting the size at a certain level could be politically challenging to the integration process. SA's ambassador to the Congo, Sisa Ngombane, believes the integration process will take more than 10 years. He says there is a degree of optimism to be found from the fact that the army did not split apart after last month's shoot-out. The renegade Gen Laurent Nkunda who was formerly a member of the RCD, later joined and then left the Congolese army and who briefly captured Bukavu remains at large, but is not viewed by Monuc as an immediate threat to the process. To ensure a degree of stability and that the army does not break apart should centrifugal pressures become strong, the signs are that Monuc, which includes about 1500 troops, may have to stay in the Congo well after the second round of the presidential poll at the end of next month. It also raises the question of a long-term South African commitment to support for post-conflict efforts to ensure peace deals in the Great Lakes region do not collapse, an issue highlighted by the rising political tensions in Burundi since the arrest last month of the country's former president, Domitien Ndayizeye. Lekota's trip to watch the parade was in part to underscore the South African commitment to continue support for Congo. Its borders with nine countries, and its eastern area, which is a domino in the wider conflict in the Great Lakes region, has made the country the linchpin in diplomatic and military support in the region. Lekota says he will soon make a proposal to the cabinet on what further support to give. We will do our utmost to sustain support so there is no reversal and ensure there is more capacity out of the rest of Africa for support, he said last week. With a more than 75% turnout in the recent election in Congo, there is likely to be strong continuing support from Europe. But other pressures are emerging on peacekeeping resources from donors. These pressures are particularly possible because of the need to send peacekeepers, if approved by the UN security council, to the Darfur region of the Sudan.