Washington, UN urge talks to end Congo battles

KINSHASA – International leaders called on Wednesday for a negotiated solution in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where clashes between the army and soldiers of a dissident general threaten to reignite a volatile region.

Government forces using a helicopter gunship and supported by UN peacekeepers have fought thousands of General Laurent Nkunda’s troops in North Kivu province in the past week, killing scores of people and sending thousands of civilians fleeing. The fighting has raised fears of a return to all-out war in eastern Congo, which bore the brunt of a 1998-2003 conflict that sucked in six neighbouring countries and killed some four million people, mainly through hunger and disease.US Assistant Secretary of African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, the George W Bush administration’s most senior African envoy, called on Wednesday for Uganda, Rwanda and Congo to work together to defuse tensions.”There needs to be a regional effort.That could be some kind of coordinated operations if necessary,” she said on a visit to Kampala for talks with President Yoweri Museveni.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon appealed in a statement for all sides to seek a peaceful solution, while humanitarian chief John Holmes, visiting eastern Congo after talks with President Laurent Kabila on Tuesday, warned of “the real danger of another big wave of displacements and humanitarian problems.”Holmes’s agency, OCHA, says 224 000 people have been displaced since the start of year in North Kivu, excluding the latest fighting.Nampa-ReutersThe fighting has raised fears of a return to all-out war in eastern Congo, which bore the brunt of a 1998-2003 conflict that sucked in six neighbouring countries and killed some four million people, mainly through hunger and disease.US Assistant Secretary of African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, the George W Bush administration’s most senior African envoy, called on Wednesday for Uganda, Rwanda and Congo to work together to defuse tensions.”There needs to be a regional effort.That could be some kind of coordinated operations if necessary,” she said on a visit to Kampala for talks with President Yoweri Museveni.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon appealed in a statement for all sides to seek a peaceful solution, while humanitarian chief John Holmes, visiting eastern Congo after talks with President Laurent Kabila on Tuesday, warned of “the real danger of another big wave of displacements and humanitarian problems.”Holmes’s agency, OCHA, says 224 000 people have been displaced since the start of year in North Kivu, excluding the latest fighting.Nampa-Reuters