The international community has "a moral imperative" to end the violence that has killed more than 5 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1998, the State Department's top diplomat for Africa said Monday.
Rebels in Congo believed to be backed by Rwanda Friday postponed indefinitely their departure from the key eastern city of Goma, defying for a second time an ultimatum set by neighboring nations.
Congolese officials were in talks Sunday with representatives of M23, the rebel group that last week took control of the eastern Congo city of Goma, according to Ugandan officials.
The M23 rebels pressed ahead with their seizure of territory and towns in eastern Congo on Wednesday and said they intend to topple the government of President Joseph Kabila.
Rebels believed to be backed by Rwanda resumed mortar and machine gun fire on Monday at a village just 3 kilometers (2 miles) outside of the crucial, provincial capital of Goma, hours after saying they were halting fighting in order to negotiate with the government of Congo.
A Rwandan-backed rebel group advanced to within two miles of Goma, a crucial provincial capital in eastern Congo, marking the first time that rebels have come so close since 2008.
Diplomats said Iran is on the threshold of boosting output of material that can be turned into weapons-grade uranium used in nuclear warheads.
Ibrahim Nsanzimana says he can no longer return to his home in Rwanda for fear of death. The 28-year-old recounted the tortured history of his Rwandan family's entanglement with neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, and his latest recruitment by Rwanda to fight in eastern Congo.
Africa will continue its economic growth next year, but faces increasing threats from continued political instability, youth unemployment and the global recession dragging down oil and commodity prices, a leading economist said Tuesday.
