Robert Mugabe and South African President Nelson Mandela. Ultimately the fighting resumed, and by 1998, the peace process ceased. The Second Congo War The Second Congo war was a major African continental war that began in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1998, and involved nine different African countries. Zambia was not a belligerent in this military engagement, but sought to facilitate peace and an end to the fighting. Representatives from various international organizations such as the United Nations, met on 21–27 June 1999 in Lusaka in order to draft a resolution to the conflict. The ceasefire agreement set to end the fighting, deploy peacekeeping forces and release prisoners of war on both sides of the fighting. Heads of state from Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe convened in Lusaka, Zambia on 10 July 1999 to sign the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement. Ultimately hostilities continued despite the passage of the Peace Agreement, and the official fighting did not resolve itself until 2003. African cooperation Zambia is a member of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now known as the African Union, and was its chairman until July 2002. Zambia also takes part in the unions economical cooperation, the African Economic Community (AEC). Among th AEC's different pillars, Zambia takes part in two; Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the preferential trade area Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The country is also a member of the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA). SADC was founded in Zambia's capital Lusaka on 1 April 1980, and COMESA has its headquarters there as well. International disputes A dormant dispute remains where Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe's boundaries converge; and with the DRC in the Lunchinda-Pweto Enclave in the North of Chienge following concerns on the Zambia-Congo Delimitation Treaty raised with the late President Laurent Kabila. The lack of demarcation beacons, and the citizenship rights of people in that enclave remain thorny issues, especially in Luapula Province. Zambia and the Commonwealth of Nations Zambia has been a republic in the Commonwealth of Nations since 24 October 1964, when Northern Rhodesia became independent. Bilateral relations See also History of Zambia Politics of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda African Union List of diplomatic missions in Zambia List of diplomatic missions of Zambia References Zambia and the Commonwealth of Nations