DRC

No talks with Nkunda without previous peace pact, says government

Article published on the 2008-11-25 Latest update 2008-11-26 09:32 TU

Internally displaced eastern DRCongo wait for aid
(Credit: Reuters)

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has announced it will not hold direct peace talks with rebel leader Laurent Nkunda unless they take place within the framework of the Amani peace agreement signed in January. Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, the United Nations envoy for the conflict in the DRC, is scheduled to hold talks this weekend with the parties.

The government's obstinacy might alter prospects for peace, says Henri Boshoff, security analyst at the Institute of Security Studies in Pretoria.

"I believe that the government still believes that they can have a military victory over General Nkunda, and we've seen this repeated in 2006, 2007 and 2008," he told RFI.

"Every time Nkunda has been attacked by the government forces of the FRDC they have been defeated. But still, it looks like the government have got this position that they can take on General Nkunda military-wise," he added.

Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, the United Nations envoy for the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will hold talks this weekend with the government and the rebels, the UN said Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Monuc, the UN mission in the DRC, Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich, says no clashes were reported in North Kivu for a fifth consecutive day.

On the humanitarian front, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says it is planning to transfer some 30,000 people from internally displaced camps in Kibati to a safer area in case the fighting should resume.

Last week, a 20-year-old woman was killed after soldiers tried to kidnap a girl.

Monuc estimates that more than 200,000 people  have been living in the bush over the past week in eastern Congo.