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MBUJI-MAYI, Democratic Republic of Congo, Feb 19 (AFP) - The withdrawal of 400 Zimbabwean soldiers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) began Tuesday as part of a peace process being brokered by southern African states.

The Zimbabwean forces are part of a joint force from the South African Development Community (SADC) which is looking to pull out troops from the DRC.

However, the head of the SADC Zimbabwean contingent, major general Phillip Valerio Sibanda, said the withdrawal would stop if Congolese rebels attempted to take advantage of the situation.

Sibanda's fears appeared to be confirmed when at least nine pe2ople died in clashes Monday and Tuesday between rebel forces from the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) and soldiers under the command of one of its former fighters.

Zimbabwe, together with Angola and Namibia, has backed the government of Joseph Kabila in the DRC conflict, which broke out in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda invaded the country to back rebels fighting the Kinshasa regime.

The withdrawal is the result of an ongoing process linked to the Lusaka peace accord, signed in 1999 by Kinshasa and its military allies, as well as by the two leading rebel movements and their main backers Rwanda and Uganda.

The SADC comprises Angola, Botswana, the DRC, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, the Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Nampa-AFP