Kabila in talks with neighbours

2008-11-21 22:25

Kinshasa - Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila began talks on Friday with Angolan counterpart Jose Eduardo dos Santos in Luanda on the conflict with rebels in eastern DR Congo.

Kabila was accorded an official welcome on arrival from Brazzaville, Congo, and went into talks with dos Santos at the presidential palace, an AFP reporter said.

Speaking earlier in neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville en route to Angola and Gabon, Kabila said the humanitarian situation in eastern DR Congo was "dramatic and catastrophic".

"Nearly two million of our compatriots are dispersed around (the regional capital) Goma and beyond," he said.

Kabila's spokesperson Kudura Kasongo said a special summit of the 10-nation Economic Community of Central African States on the Congo crisis will take place next week in Kinshasa, although a firm date has yet to be set.

Angola has repeatedly denied speculation that it has sent troops over the border to quell the unrest and said it will only intervene if called on to do so by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc.

Angola's army had intervened to support DR Congo during strife that raged in the Great Lakes region from 1998-2003.

Renegade general Laurent Nkunda, who leads the rebel forces in eastern DR Congo, has warned that a deployment of Angolan troops would risk setting "the Great Lakes region on fire".

- AFP