The European Parliament,

-  having regard to the Council Declaration of 22 January 2001 on the assassination of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila,

-  having regard to the common position adopted by the Council on 29 January 2001 on the implementation of the Lusaka accords and the peace process in the DRC,

A.  noting the appointment of Joseph Kabila as Head of State following the assassination of President Kabila on 16 January 2001,

B.  having regard to the Lusaka Agreement, signed in 1999 by the governments in the region and by the DRC and the various rebel movements, which provides for a cease-fire monitored by the UN, the disarmament of all armed groups, the withdrawal from the DRC of all foreign forces and the opening of a national dialogue between the government and the armed and non-armed opposition,

C.  whereas the new President has stated that he wishes to cooperate with the United Nations and the MONUC and has accepted the mediation of Sir Ketumile Masire, former President of Botswana, as a facilitator,

D.  whereas the DRC has vast mining reserves which are coveted by neighbouring countries and by international companies thus serving to fuel the war, whose victims are the civilian population,

E.  whereas respect for human rights and democracy must be the cornerstone of national reconciliation and reconstruction,

1.  Condemns the assassination of the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo;

2.  Condemns in the strongest terms all acts of violence perpetrated against the civilian population and calls on the warring parties to respect fundamental human rights;

3.  Reaffirms that lasting peace in the DRC can be achieved only through a negotiated peace settlement which is fair to all parties and through respect for the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the DRC and for democratic principles and human rights in all states of the region;

4.  Reiterates its strong support for the Lusaka Agreement as the consensual basis for peace in the DRC and in the region; urges all parties involved to comply fully with UN Security Council Resolution 1304 and with the Lusaka Peace Agreement;

5.  Calls on the new Head of State to make a firm commitment to the democratisation of the country, to lift the ban on political parties and to agree to a timetable for the opening of the inter-Congolese dialogue and the holding of free elections, to be proposed by the facilitator;

6.  Welcomes the diplomatic efforts undertaken by Joseph Kabila in order to end the war and to speed up a process of reconstruction in the DRC;

7.  Urges all countries in the Great Lakes region to refrain from activities directed against a neighbouring country; strongly urges the simultaneous withdrawal of all foreign troops from the DRC;

8.  Welcomes the recent decision of the United Nations to increase the number of UN observers in the DRC;

9.  Calls on the Council and Commission to support efforts to implement the Lusaka Agreement and to take all the necessary political and economic measures, without delay, to ensure the proper implementation of that agreement;

10.  Urges all parties concerned to cooperate fully with the expert panel mandated by the UN to investigate the illegal exploitation of natural resources and other forms of wealth in the DRC;

11.  Calls on the Member States to honour their commitments with regard to the control of arms exports and preventing illegal arms sales and the trafficking by means of which they are funded;

12.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the UN Secretary-General, the OAU, the Government of the DRC and the countries involved in the war in Congo (Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia).