[An Nahar] EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka
Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
and regional players to commit to peace Saturday as fighting flared again, days after peace talks failed.
A statement from Ashton's office expressing strong concern over a second day of festivities in the northeast urged "the M23 to commit urgently to a peaceful solution based on the provisions" laid out in peace talks in Kampala that broke down on Monday.
She also called on "all actors in the region to prevent further escalation and internationalization of the conflict."
"The reported impact across the border in Rwanda of recent actions should also be jointly investigated," she said.
Neighboring Rwanda has accused DR Congo troops of firing three shells over the border into its territory and threatened to retaliate if the firing continued.
Rebels claimed the army attacked their positions early Friday, but the military insisted it came under attack first -- a claim supported by a source from the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country, MONUSCO.
Ashton reiterated that the region had agreed to a framework calling for an end to support for gangs and urged "all actors to live up to their responsibilities to ensure peace."