Peace talks amid DR Congo clashes
November 16, 2008
Mr Obasanjo hopes to mediate an end to weeks of violence
Heavy fighting erupted in eastern DR Congo as the UN special envoy Olusegun Obasanjo began talks with DR Congo’s rebel leader Laurent Nkunda.
Mr Obasanjo, Nigeria’s ex-president, was greeted by Gen Nkunda in the rebel-held town of Jomba, north-east of Goma.
An estimated 250,000 people have been made homeless by the fighting between rebels and Congolese government troops.
A UN spokesman said it remained unclear who was involved in the latest heavy fighting in the east of the country.
Witnesses reported hearing artillery, rockets and small arms fire near the village of Ndeko, about 55 miles (90km) north of the provincial capital, Goma.
BBC world affairs correspondent Mark Doyle in Goma says it seems that rebels loyal to Gen Nkunda may be trying to take control of an area near the town of Kanyabayonga.
The fact the fighting is taking place while Mr Obasanjo is talking to Gen Nkunda is not a surprise, our correspondent says, because both sides will want to negotiate from a position of military strength.
An estimated 250,000 people have been made homeless by the fighting
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Arriving in Jomba by helicopter, Mr Obasanjo was greeted warmly by Gen Nkunda before being led past two rows of rebel fighters lined up for inspection, according to the Associated Press.
The pair then entered a church compound for private talks.
Speaking in Goma on Saturday ahead of the meeting, Mr Obasanjo said it was important to find out exactly what the rebel leader wanted.
Gen Nkunda says he is fighting to protect his Tutsi community from attacks by Rwandan FDLR Hutu rebels who fled to DR Congo after the genocide.
Mr Obasanjo, who met President Joseph Kabila on Friday, said the president had not laid down conditions for talks with rebels.
The UN envoy also met members of DR Congo’s parliament and ambassadors representing UN Security Council members in Kinshasa on Saturday.
In a recent BBC interview, Gen Nkunda said he wanted to take over the whole of Congo.
This was obviously propaganda, our correspondent says, but it scared many Congolese people because they, on the whole, believe that Gen Nkunda is backed by Congo’s small but powerful neighbour, Rwanda.
Rwanda, for its part, says Congo backs an anti-Rwandan government militia force based in the Congolese forest.
Mr Obasanjo may try to steer a middle course between these two positions, our correspondent says.
Hungry civilians
The United Nations says the conflict that began in August between Gen Nkunda’s fighters and government forces has caused a humanitarian catastrophe.
On Friday, for the first time after weeks of fighting, UN aid workers delivered maize and lentils to the first of at least 50,000 hungry civilians in Rutshuru territory, about 70km (40 miles) north of Goma.
On the same day, Rwanda and DR Congo announced that they had agreed to work together to deal with forces along their common border blamed for the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Foreign ministers from both countries said Rwandan intelligence teams would go into DR Congo to work with the Congolese army and the international community to help end the presence there of Hutu fighters, cited by Gen Nkunda as the justification for his rebellion.
The Hutu fighters - known as the Interahamwe - have lived in eastern DR Congo since 1994 and have been a key factor in destabilising the region.
The Congolese government has often promised to stop Hutu forces using its territory, but has not done so.
Its forces have been accused of instead working with the FDLR to exploit the region’s rich mines.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
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