DR Congo peace talks adjourned until next week
12/12/2008 17:31
The Talks between the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR
Congo) and a main rebel group are making steady progress but have been adjourned
until next week, mediators said today.
The Nairobi peace talks which began
earlier this week will adjourn until Dec. 17, Olusegun Obasanjo, the UN Special
Envoy and former Nigerian president said in a statement.
According to the UN
envoy who is tasked with helping to resolve the conflict that has engulfed the
east of the vast African nation, the talks are making steady progress towards
deal on ground rules.
"I am pleased to note that they are making steady
progress towards agreement on the ground rules for substantive discussions, "
said Obasanjo who is mediating the talks between the government and the National
Congress in Defense of the People (CNDP), together with Benjamin Mkapa, former
president of Tanzania who is representing the African Union (AU) and the
International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
Obasanjo noted
that the two sides have shown "goodwill" during the talks so far. "The
delegations engaged in both direct and proximity talks in an atmosphere of
goodwill," the statement said.
The statement said a high-level delegation was
dispatched yesterday by the two envoys to meet rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, who
heads the CNDP, to discuss issues that have slowed steps forward and have
reported a positive response.
The steady progress was reported after the
former Nigerian leader warned on Tuesday that an urgent resolution was needed to
move the talks forward.
"In reverence for Kenya's Jamhuri Day celebrations (
Independence Day) on 12 December, the Mediators, in consultation with the
parties, have decided to adjourn and resume the direct talks on 17 December
2008," the statement said.
The CNDP is insisting on discussions the obstacles
facing the entire DR Congo, not just the conflict and humanitarian situation in
the east.
"Without prejudice to the rights and wrongs of this demand,"
Obasanjo said that both he and Mkapa believe this goes "beyond the mandate given
to us" last month by the Great Lakes Region, the AU and the UN.
Escalating
conflict between government forces (FARDC) and the CNDP has uprooted an
estimated 250,000 people since late August, mainly in North Kivu province, which
borders Rwanda and Uganda.
Other armed groups, including the Mai Mai, have
also been involved in deadly clashes, some of which have been along ethnic
lines.
A rebel-declared ceasefire in North Kivu seems to be holding, but aid
workers say a humanitarian emergency is still raging and many families are out
of reach of aid workers in zones controlled by Nkunda's rebels or pro-government
militias.
Xinhua
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