JOMBA, Congo - The UN's special envoy on Congo met the Central African country's main rebel leader for the first time Sunday in a bid to end the crisis, as the UN reported more heavy fighting elsewhere in the east.
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo flew by helicopter to the rebel-held town of Jomba, near the Ugandan border, and was greeted with a hug by gray-suited rebel leader Laurent Nkunda.
Obasanjo inspected two rows of rebel fighters who stood in formation. He told a translator to tell them "they will be better as part of a national army than as rebels."
The two then entered a church compound for private talks.
Nkunda, a former general, quit the army in 2004 and launched a rebellion he claims is aimed at protecting ethnic Tutsis from Hutu militias who fled to Congo after Rwanda's 1994 genocide that left more than 500,000 mostly Tutsis dead.
Critics say Tutsis in Congo are not being threatened and Nkunda is more interested in power and mineral wealth.
Ahead of the talks, clashes broke out in Ndeko, about 90 kilometres north of the regional capital, Goma, according Col. Jean-Paul Dietrich, a spokesman for the 17,000-strong peacekeeping mission.
Dietrich described the battle as "heavy" and said it began early in the morning. He said it was unclear who was fighting. Rebels, the army and myriad pro-government militias are operating in the region.
Low-level fighting among armed groups has ground on for years in lawless North Kivu province, but violence sharply escalated in August and has since displaced 250,000 people.
Obasanjo said Friday that Congo President Joseph Kabila was willing to talk to Nkunda. Speaking Saturday, he said the Congolese leader "did not give anything that I would call conditions" for holding talks, "but we are at the exploratory stage now."
Congo's government has always said it is willing to meet Nkunda, but only along with the many other militias operating in the region -- not alone.
On Friday, Obasanjo visited Angola and held talks with Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, who assured him no Angolan troops were in Congo despite numerous reports to the contrary.
Congo has called on Angola for help, and some fear the crisis could draw in other countries from the region as it did during a devastating 1998-2002 war, which split the vast nation into rival fiefdoms and drew in half a dozen African armies, including Angola's.
Obasanjo was due in Rwanda later Sunday for talks with that country's president, Paul Kagame, who wields strong influence over Nkunda.
