Political dialogue the priority, says Special Representative for Great Lakes region.

• Position: Mohamed Sahnoun - Includes related article on Great Lakes' Security Council

Within weeks of assuming office as Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan announced that the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity would appoint a joint Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region. Mohamed Sahnoun of Algeria was named to the post. Ambassador Sahnoun (right), a distinguished diplomat, had served as the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Somalia from 28 April to 30 October 1992. Talking to the press at Headquarters on 28 January, he said his first priority would be to work with all the parties concerned to bring about a political dialogue.

In eastern Zaire and Burundi, the international community was facing conflicts which were difficult to define, the Special Representative stated. A collective trauma was still gripping Rwanda two years after the massacre of over 600,000 people - labelled "minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus". The conflicts in the Great Lakes region had caused hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons, a horrifying proliferation of small arms, and hostilities among the leaders in the area. The prospects for peace were slim, he said, adding that the damage inflicted upon the environment was incalculable, and some of the scars would be almost impossible to heal in short and medium terms.

While CNN cameras were no longer focusing on the situation in the Great Lakes region, the tragedies continued, Mr. Sahnoun said. Serious incidents were still occurring, and the casualties were sometimes reported much later or not reported at all. The massive return of refugees to Rwanda from eastern Zaire and the United Republic of Tanzania, while a welcome development, could also constitute a time bomb. The tragedy could become overwhelming if the hopes for resettlement and reintegration were dashed. Therefore, Rwanda needed all the assistance it could get to help reintegrate the returnees into the social, economic and political fabric of the country. Also, approximately 400,000 refugees were trapped by the fighting between the Zairian army and the rebel forces.

Political dialogue must be fostered inside the countries of the region, as well as among them, Mr. Sahnoun stressed. But in order to bring about that dialogue, a number of confidence-building measures must be developed, and that meant mobilizing resources. In his appeal to the Security Council to make such resources available, he had advocated a "mini-Marshall Plan" for the region. The Great Lakes was one of the most precarious...