AFRICA/DR CONGO - Week for Peace in Congo ends, as talks between Nkunda's rebels and the Congolese government open in Nairobi

Rome (Agenzia Fides) – The Week for Peace in Congo, begun on December 2, closed on December 7, with a Mass held at 1pm in Rome, at the Church of the Nativity (the Congolese National Church), celebrated by its Chaplain, Fr. Agostino Bita and various other Congolese priests. Together with the Catholic Congolese community in Rome, various Congolese and Italian associations joined efforts in promoting the event, united to the 600 Associations who signed the Peace Appeal for Congo.
The facade and interior of the Church was adorned with writings and images portraying the dramatic reality of the refugees of the war in the province of North Kivu and the main reasons for yet another armed conflict in the area: the exploitation of resources from the country.
Among the initiatives carried out during the Week for Peace in Congo was a conference entitled “A geopolitical interpretation of the conflict taking place” and a conference given by Fr. Agostino on what the Catholic Church is doing during these years of war, in which the various positions of the Bishops were mentioned.
Talks continue between the government in Kinshasa and the rebels of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) of Laurent Nkunda. They began yesterday, December 8, in Nairobi (Kenya), with the mediation of the United Nations, which is hosting the event at their own local headquarters.
The rebels, who have been carrying out attacks since August, have created an extremely serious humanitarian crisis (nearly 1.5 million refugees and displaced persons), have declared a unilateral truce that has allowed for the initiation of talks. Talks between the Congolese government and Nikunda's rebels were supported by the accord reached by Congo and Rwanda on December 5, to disarm the Rwandan hutu soldiers of the Democratic Forces of the Liberation of Rwanda (FDRL), who since 1994 have been taking refuge in eastern Congo. Nkunda affirms that he took up arms to defend Congolese tutsi from this group, which Rwanda accuses of being formed by hutu militants responsible for the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Kigali affirms that the key for resolving the crisis in Congo resides in the disarming of the FDRL. This vision seems a bit reductionist to those who, like the missionaries working in the area, witness the extraction of Congolese resources that goes on, “masked” by the war. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 9/12/2008)