Laurent Nkunda interviewed on BBC gives no prospect for peace

In an interview on BBC TV this evening Laurent Nkunda reiterated his desire to control not just Eastern Congo but the whole country. The prospect that the fighting around Kibati, a few miles from Goma will resolve quickly is diminishing.

The current conflict Eastern DR Congo is the continuation of war which which has its origins in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The East of DR Congo (formerly Zaire) borders directly onto Rwanda.

Since 1994 the most intense periods have been called the two Congolese wars. The second of these was meant to have come to an end in 2003. This second Congolese war has killed 5.4 million people according to the IRC and was described by Kofi Annan, a former UN Secretary General, as the deadliest conflict since the Second World War. Most death has been from disease and starvation.

Much of the fighting been about abundant mineral resources of the Congo. The African Great Lakes states have generated considerable income extracting diamonds, other minerals and also timber from Eastern Congo.

As with all conflicts, children (and especially children who lose their parents through the conflict) suffer horribly. SOS Children continues its strategy to try to provide longer term support for children who lose parents through the conflict and leverage the infrastructure we have to provide relief in the immediate vicinity of our projects as cost-effectively as possible. The SOS Villages, together with the family support programs for Aids Orphans in the community, schools and medical centres are all in Eastern DR Congo in the area of conflict, although a third Village is planned in Kinshasa, where there is considerable need for support for orphaned children. SOS Children is appealing for people to sponsor children in all conflicted affected countries of Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Tanzania
Burundi

and Rwanda.