United Nationsofficials said Special Envoy Olusegun Obasanjo would meet in Kinshasawith Congolese President Joseph Kabila and representatives of the fivemember nations of the U.N. Security Council. He then is to travel toNorth Kivu province to meet with rebel leader Laurent Nkunda.
Afragile ceasefire signed earlier this year broke down in August leadingto renewed fighting between Nkunda's forces, government troops andseveral rebel militia's allied with the Kinshasa government. All sidesreportedly have committed atrocities and the fighting has displacedone-quarter million people.
The spokesman for the U.N. Mission in Congo, Madnodje Mounoubai says the situation is disturbing.
"Forthe past three days there have been attacks all over North Kivu, inRutshuru, in Masisi [north of Goma], he said. "The ceasefire is nolonger holding in those areas so we are very worried about the future."
U.N.officials Friday confirmed that Nkunda's forces had seized the town ofIshasha near the border with Uganda, causing some 13,000 residents toflee into Uganda.
The U.N. Security Council this week approved arequest to send 3,000 additional peacekeepers to Congo. Theyare to join the 17,000 troops already there, 5,000 of which aredeployed in the east at 35 mobile bases. But details have yet to beworked out, leading to calls for the European Union to send forces.
U.N.spokesman Mounoubai notes that before the fighting erupted therealready were one million internally displaced people, or IDP's, in theregion. He says the latest violence has only worsened the humanitariantragedy.
"The humanitarian organizations, the U.N. agencies,they have received enough food to be able to assist those additionalIDP's," said Mounoubai. "The problem they have on the ground is thatthere is not enough security for them to be able to send thisassistance to the displaced."
He says the largest camp, Kibati, lies in the conflict zone and as a result is being moved to a safer area.
Anestimated three million Congolese died during two civil wars in themid-1990s. A peace agreement several years ago ended most of theviolence and brought national elections two years ago. But it failed toend hostilities in parts of eastern Congo.