African presidents pledge peace in Great Lakes

The declaration calling for the region's transformation into a area of "sustainable peace and security, of political and social stability, of shared growth and development" was signed at a landmark conference in Dar es Salaam.

The signatories were 14 presidents from the Great Lakes region, as well as Annan and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo attending in his capacity as African Union chairman.

On Friday, the first day of the conference, Annan called on the presidents to widen the declaration into a global peace accord for the Great Lakes.

The region notably includes the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which has hardly known peace and stability since its independence in 1960; Rwanda, whose 1994 genocide caused repercusions that are still felt to this day; Burundi, which is struggling to emerge from 11 years of civil conflict; and Uganda, the north of which has been ravaged by a rebel conflict since the mid 1980s.