A summit of Southern African leaders today called for a ceasefire in eastern Congo to give displaced people access to humanitarian assistance.
Aid agency efforts to help thousands of people displaced by fighting in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) largely failed yesterday, despite an appeal by African leaders for a ceasefire.
Opening a regional summit in Johannesburg, South African President Kgalema Motlanthe said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) group of nations wanted an immediate ceasefire in Congo.
"We firmly believe that there is no military solution to the problem," said Mr Motlanthe, whose country is the current SADC chairman.
"The involvement of all role players including SADC in the DRC is central, which means we should continue to play a prominent role, hence the need to deliberate on our strategic intervention."
Pope Benedict today also urged an end to the violence and "systematic atrocities" that have forced huge numbers of people to flee their homes in Congo..
"Bloody armed clashes and systematic atrocities have caused and are causing many victims among innocent civilians," the Pope said after his regular Sunday address.
The SADC summit is discussing the DRC, a deadlock in power-sharing talks in Zimbabwe and other regional issues. It is not clear what action the SADC could take to strengthen efforts to stabilise the eastern DRC.
The world's biggest UN peacekeeping force, the 17,000-strong MONUC, has been unable to stem the latest fighting to afflict Congo since a 1998-2003 regional war driven in part by competition for its huge mineral resources.
Over five million people have died in a decade of conflict.
Reuters