- Congolese talks between government and rebels led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda have been suspended in Kenya, after an arrest of Mr Nkunda last week. The decision was taken on Monday to allow a mini-summit of the heads of state in the Great Lakes Region to discuss the situation in DRC on the weekend.
The new developments came after Rwanda and the DR Congo announced on Friday the arrest of General Nkunda in Rwandan territory during a joint military operation against rebels on their Great Lakes border.
According to a statement released by a spokesperson for the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region and chief mediator for the talks, Olusegun Obasanjo, the talks, which had been scheduled to resume on 25 January will now re-convene at a date to be determined following the upcoming African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
The statement said the co-mediators will consult with regional leaders of the African Union and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, during the AU summit to be held next week in Addis Ababa.
The co-mediators called on the parties to take further steps to improve conditions for humanitarian access in order to improve the quality of lives of those affected by the crisis.
Meanwhile Rwandan President Paul Kagame has welcomed General Nkunda's arrest, also praising the joint army operation to pin down the most wanted rebel in eastern DRC.
Local News agency RNA quoted president Kagame saying: "These efforts are giving good results. I have never been more hopeful."
General Nkunda was arrested while on the run in Rwandan territory after having resisted soldiers in Bunagana.
Mr Nkunda, who was ousted as leader of the CNDP earlier this month, says he's fighting to protect the region's ethnic Tutsi minority from Hutu militias that took refuge there after participating in the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda.
The fighting in North Kivu province bordering Rwanda has raised fears of a repeat of the 1998 to 2003 DRC war.
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