Congo Talks Focus On Cessation of Hostilities

Talks between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) government and renegade Congolese army general Laurent Nkunda’s Tutsi rebels have shifted focus towards a joint cessation of hostilities, UN Special Envoy Olusegun Obasanjo has said. Obasanjo said both sides have already agreed on a set of ground rules that will guide substantive talks in the UN-backed effort to resolve the crisis in eastern Congo. The talks, which are being held in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, seek to end a raging conflict that has displaced over 250,000 civilians since it began last August.[PE]