Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Environment
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
You Witness
The Great Debate
Blogs
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
You Witness News
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
U.N. envoy says Congo crisis talks going well
Sat Nov 15, 2008 7:23am EST
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By David Lewis
KINSHASA (Reuters) - Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Saturday his efforts to end fighting in Congo were going fairly well and that President Joseph Kabila had not given conditions for talks with the rebels.
Kabila's army is battling dissident Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda's rebels and Obasanjo has been tasked by the United Nations with stopping the violence escalating into a re-run of the 1998-2003 conflict that sucked in six African nations.
"(I) am trying to draw together the strands that we need... for us to be able to move forward. That has gone fairly well so far," Obasanjo told reporters in Kinshasa after meeting Kabila.
He was due to fly to eastern Congo later on Saturday.
Obasanjo, named last week by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as his special envoy, met Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos in Luanda before flying to Democratic Republic of Congo, and has already spoken to Nkunda by telephone.
He also met Congolese members of parliament and foreign diplomats in the capital Kinshasa.
Nkunda began his rebellion in 2004 saying he was fighting to defend fellow Tutsis in eastern Congo, particularly from attacks by Rwandan Hutu rebels operating there.
But after seizing swathes of territory in battles last month, Nkunda threatened to take his rebellion all the way to the distant capital Kinshasa unless Kabila negotiated with him.
"NO CONDITIONS"
Asked if Kabila was ready to talk to Nkunda, Obasanjo said: "He did not give anything that I would call conditions but we are at the exploratory stage now."
The United Nations says the fighting has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe. On Friday, aid workers began feeding tens of thousands of refugees in rebel-held areas.
There are fears the violence could escalate into a repeat of a 1998-2003 war that killed some 5.4 million people, mostly through hunger and disease. Rights groups say rebels and rival pro-government militias killed dozens of civilians last week.
Kabila accuses neighboring Rwanda of supporting Nkunda, while southern African states led by Angola have said they are considering sending troops to back the Congolese army, or to bolster an over-stretched 17,000-strong U.N. force in Congo.
The conflict's origins trace back to Rwanda's 1994 genocide of Tutsis by Hutus, which helped trigger the 1998-2003 war.
Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of backing Nkunda, who says he is defending Congolese Tutsis from attacks by FDLR Rwandan Hutu rebels that he and Kigali say fight with the Congolese army. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
My Web
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Iran wants OPEC to cut output
Also on Reuters
Wall Street bonus and job outlook worsens
Slideshow
Herd on the street: Sheep farmers protest in Paris
Column: For Yahoo's Yang, the news keeps getting worse
Editor's Choice
Pictures
Video
Articles
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
quake drill
moon festival
Congo gorillas
US: Americans teetering on $14 trillion debt pile
Lifestyle: Examining U.S. damage to Babylon
Business: OPEC poised for deep cut to halt oil slide
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Recommended
Travel Picks: 10 top ugly buildings and monument
Wildfire rages in California celebrity enclave | Video
Obama, Clinton discussed secretary of state job
Russia searches for right tone on Obama
Europe in recession, U.S. in pain as world leaders meet | Video
Laid-off Silicon Valley worker kills three: police
Resort plans nude "anything goes" party
Retail sales in record fall, but sentiment up | Video
World leaders pledge action plan to fight crisis | Video
Senate to take up auto bailout, Bush offers plan
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
World's best bottoms
Bush hosts leaders at White House
Thousands evacuated in California
Hillary Clinton as Sec.of State?
UN runs out of Gaza food
Wall St. down on retail slump
Beyond the Group of Seven
The world's top bottom
Obama's defense policy
US bans tainted Chinese products
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
The Great Debate
World Affairs:
Barack Obama and The Ugly American
Bernd Debusmann
It's been an enduring label that's fed anti-American sentiments around the globe. Columnist Bernd Debusmann examines whether this label will disappear or fade following Barack Obama's election. Commentary
Reuters Deals
The global destination for corporate leaders, deal-makers and innovators
Knowledge to Act
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Interactive TV |
Labs |
Reuters in Second Life |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.