Regional heads of state have called for an immediate cease-fire by all parties in eastern Congo, where tensions have grown amid talk of war as Congo and neighboring Rwanda trade allegations of backing armed rebels.
The communique issued Saturday at the end of an East African Community summit also directed troop-contributing countries to immediately deploy more troops to a regional force created and sent to eastern Congo last year. It also directed defense chiefs to meet within one week and called for more dialogue and de-escalation of tensions.
The heads of state of both Congo and Rwanda attended in a “cordial and friendly atmosphere,” the communique said.
Some observers fear the toll and regional effects if the two countries slide again into all-out conflict as they did in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Alarm soared last month after Rwanda fired on a Congolese military aircraft it alleged violated its airspace. Congo
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