The peace talks between rebels of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and President Joseph Kabila's government have achieved "tremendous progresses, chief mediators said here late Wednesday.
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa briefed Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in Nairobi on the progress made by parties to the conflict since the negotiations started on Monday.
A statement from the presidential press service stated the mediators told President Kibaki that tremendous progress had been achieved by his representatives and those of rebel leader Laurent Nkunda.
Obasanjo noted the two groups of negotiators had shown serious commitment to resolving the conflict in eastern DR Congo and pledged to carry on the negotiations until a lasting solution is found.
President Kibaki, who is also the chairman of Great Lakes Conference and the Congo Peace Process, congratulated the mediators for the achievements made so far and urged them to remain on course.
Obasanjo expressed satisfaction at the progress made in talks between the country's government and a leading rebel group, but noted that some issues must be resolved to ensure a success.
Obasanjo, the UN secretary-general's special envoy and former Nigerian president, and Mkapa, former Tanzanian leader, who is representing the African Union (AU) and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, are facilitating the discussions underway in Nairobi, Kenya.
Obasanjo said that there has been some progress made in reaching agreement on the format and rules for more substantive discussions, between the government and the militia known as the National Congress in Defense of the People (CNDP). He believed the discussion will begin before the end of this month.
"But success has been blocked by two difficulties that need urgent resolutions," the envoy said.
The CNDP led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda, is insisting on the discussions on the obstacles facing the entire DRC, not just the conflict and humanitarian situation in the east.
"Without prejudice to the rights and wrongs of this demand," Obasanjo said that both he and Mkapa believe this goes "beyond the mandate given to us" last month by the Great Lakes Region, the AU and the UN.
Further, the progresses in the talks have been slowed down because the decision-making powers of the CNDP delegation have been curtailed by the militia's leadership, he noted.
But Obasanjo underscored that he and Mkapa will continue their diplomatic efforts "in search of a way forward in the interest of durable peace that the people of the DR Congo so fully and rightly deserve."
Escalating conflict between government forces (FARDC) and the CNDP has uprooted an estimated 250,000 people since late August, mainly in North Kivu province, which borders Rwanda and Uganda.
Other armed groups, including the Mai Mai, have also been involved in deadly clashes, some of which have been along ethnic lines.
Obasanjo noted the attainment of peace in the DR Congo was imperative because it would extend to the whole of the Great Lakes region and beyond.
The meeting sought to have the CNDP negotiate directly with the DR Congolese government on the modalities of ending the months of fighting in the country's mineral-rich eastern region.
Fighting has been going on since August 28 between the CNDP and government troops.
The peace talks scheduled to end on Wednesday were extended for a day.
In another related development, the UN refugee agency on Wednesday said that thousands of internally displaced persons in North Kivu can not be reached by aid workers.
In Beni territory, at least 8,000 people who fled the fighting between the FARDC and CNDP are in need of humanitarian assistance, while still others have been uprooted by clashes between government troops and another militia known as the Front Populaire pour la Justice au Congo.
The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUC) reported that the security situation remains fragile in North Kivu despite the retreat of the CNDP from some areas.
MONUC military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jean Paul Dietrich said that other militias, such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a mainly Hutu rebel group, have taken advantage of the CNDP's withdrawal and replaced them in some regions.