The U.N. special envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo has met with
the country's main rebel leader as part of a bid to end the civil war
in eastern Congo.
The envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun
Obasanjo, held talks Saturday with rebel leader Laurent Nkunda in the
rebel-held town of Jomba in volatile North Kivu province.
Mr. Obasanjo met Friday with Congolese President Joseph Kabila in the capital, Kinshasa.
The meetings come as rebels have advanced amid renewed fighting and a crumbling ceasefire in the east.
U.N.
officials Friday confirmed that Nkunda's forces have seized the town of
Ishasha, near the Ugandan border, and some 13,000 refugees have fled
into Uganda over the last few days to escape the fighting.
Nkunda's
forces have denied violating a cease-fire agreement. They say their
actions are targeted at Rwandan Hutu rebels, and not Congolese forces.
Mr. Obasanjo's also met with Mr. Kabila and Nkunda in a trip to the DRC earlier this month.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
