UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined heads ofstate from east and central Africa, as well as American and Europeandiplomats, for a summit aimed at putting a halt to the recent fightingin eastern DRC between rebels led by Laurent Nkunda, and Congolesegovernment forces. Mr. Ban called on leaders in the region to putpressure on Nkunda, who has launched a renewed offensive in August,despite signing an agreement with the government in January.
"Asleaders of Africa, you have an historic responsibility," he said. "Thisis a critical moment for the Great Lakes region and for Africa as awhole. We must put the cycle of violence behind us. We must build ashared future of stability, peace, development and human rights for allcitizens of your countries. I am determined to work with you to realizethese urgent objectives. And I count on your leadership."
Nkundaannounced a unilateral cease-fire last week, after advancing to the edgeof Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, but clashes have resumedin recent days. The U.N. estimates that some 250,000 people have fledtheir homes since August, bringing the total number of civiliansdisplaced in the region to over one million.
A major goal of thesummit will be to improve relations between Congolese President LaurentKabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
Congo accuses Rwanda ofbacking Nkunda's forces, while Rwanda and Nkunda say the Congolesegovernment is cooperating with the FDLR, a Rwandan Hutu militia, manyof whose members participated in Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Nkunda claimshe is protecting the region's ethnic Tutsi community from attacks bythe Hutu militia.
Notably absent from the summit was Nkundahimself. Nkunda has called for direct talks with the Congolesegovernment, but Congo has insisted that any discussion must follow anexisting negotiating framework involving all of the various armedgroups operating in eastern DRC.
The chairman of the African UnionCommission, Jean Ping, appeared to echo that position in explainingNkunda's absence.
"It is only the members of the Great Lakes whohave been invited plus a certain number of countries," he said. "Butyou know that there you have also other groups who are fighting, likeMai Mai."
The UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo, known by itsFrench acronym MONUC, has clashed with the rebels in recent weeks, andhas pledged to defend Goma from any attack by Nkunda's forces. But withit's 17,000 troops spread across various parts of the vast country, theforce is overstretched. The UN's Special Representative to the DRC,Alan Doss, said the mission had requested additional troops.
"Wehave asked for a temporary increase to help us deal with the currentsituation," he said. "We'll see if the Security Council goes along with it we hopethey will. It's not just about numbers it's also about capabilities.You can have soldiers but if they can't move around, they can't bere-supplied it doesn't get you far."
On Friday, a group of NGOsincluding Human Rights Watch and Oxfam called on the European Union andother countries to contribute additional troops to the UN mission,saying peacekeepers have been unable to halt attacks on civilians inrecent days.
