World must act to quickly in Congo

NAIROBI – World leaders must act quickly to help rescue a faltering peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo or risk a return to full-scale war in central Africa, a leading think-tank warned yesterday.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) said efforts to end Congo’s devastating five-year war could be derailed by recent fighting, rising ethnic tensions in the country’s east and political ill-will in the western capital Kinshasa. “Without the strong support of the international community, the peace process in Congo and the UN effort to sustain it are at risk of failure,” ICG president Gareth Evans wrote in a letter addressed to the United Nations Security Council.RCD-Goma, Congo’s largest former rebel group, withdrew from the power-sharing government on Monday, raising fears that an already-slow peace process could become paralysed or erupt into new violence.- Nampa-Reuters”Without the strong support of the international community, the peace process in Congo and the UN effort to sustain it are at risk of failure,” ICG president Gareth Evans wrote in a letter addressed to the United Nations Security Council.RCD-Goma, Congo’s largest former rebel group, withdrew from the power-sharing government on Monday, raising fears that an already-slow peace process could become paralysed or erupt into new violence.- Nampa-Reuters