Nairobi (Kenya): The UN secretary-general joined African leaders today to try to end the fighting in eastern Congo, where a fragile cease-fire is close to collapse.
The conflict between government and Tutsi-led rebels, which has forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, is fueled by ethnic hatred left over from the 1994 slaughter of a half-million Tutsis in Rwanda and from Congo s civil wars.
Among the seven African leaders at the summit were Congolese President Joseph Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who wields strong influence with rebel leader Laurent Nkunda's fighters.
European Union Development Commissioner Louis Michel who has held separate talks with Kabila and Kagame in recent weeks urged both sides to respect the cease-fire. But he said direct talks between Kabila and Kagame were not on the agenda today.
The foreign minister of Tanzania, which chairs the African Union, said the leaders meeting in Kenya are considering whether to appoint an envoy to specifically handle the crisis in Congo or start a process of mediation.
Nkunda went on the offensive August 28 in the eastern Congo province of North Kivu and brought his fighters to the edge of its largest city, Goma, last week before declaring a unilateral cease-fire. Tens of thousands of civilians fled the fighting and an unknown number were killed or injured.
Nkunda claims the Congolese government has not protected ethnic Tutsis from the Rwandan Hutu militia that escaped to Congo after taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
All sides are also believed to fund fighters by illegally mining Congo's vast mineral riches, giving them no financial interest in stopping the fighting.
