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The government cannot afford another war – and probably could not win it, so it must talk to its nemesis

No one in the Kinshasa government wanted to talk to the rebel General Laurent Nkunda. So the talks which began in Nairobi on 8 December were a big political risk, especially for President Joseph Kabila. He had few options, none of them good. Kinshasa’s 90,000 strong national army, even with the support of allied militias of Hutu and Mai-Mai fighters, has little prospect of defeating Nkunda or even neutralising his 6,000 strong militia.

Article Tags:
Laurent Nkunda, Joseph Kabila, Lambert Mende, Angolan, Belgian, South African, Talk or fight, Serge Kambasu Ngeze, Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, Bosco Ntaganda, Rwanda, Bertrand Bisimwa, Alexis Thambwe, Rosemary Museminali, Uganda, Burundi, Sylvestre Mudacumura, Jean-Damascène Ndibabaje, Christophe Hakizabera, Mission des Nations Unies en République Démocratique du Congo, Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo, Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple, Patriotes Résistants Congolais, Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda, Forces Combattantes Abacunguzi, Rassemblement pour l’Unité et la Démocratie-Urunana, Commandement Militaire pour le Changement, Union des Jeunes Patriotes Sacrifiés, Africa Confidential

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