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NAIROBI — Eastern Congo peace talks have stalled because the rebels delegation has no power to make decisions, U.N. envoy Olusegun Obasanjo said Wednesday.
Representatives of Congo's government and rebels have been meeting in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, since Monday to formalize a cease-fire and discuss a peace process after weeks of fighting.
"We cannot move because at every stage we are told by CNDP (rebels) that they have to refer by their political core and we are held up for hours on end," Obasanjo said.
Still, he emphasized that talks had not collapsed and said he was sending a delegation to meet rebel leader Laurent Nkunda in Congo on Thursday.
He said the government delegation was more flexible.
Years of low-level fighting in eastern Congo intensified with a rebel offensive Nkunda launched Aug. 28. The subsequent fighting has driven more than 250,000 people from their homes.
The rebels and government soldiers all are accused of atrocities against civilians. Some 17,000 U.N. peacekeepers have not been able to quell the chaos.
Nkunda, a former Congo army general, quit the service in 2004 to begin a rebellion, saying he wanted to protect Tutsis and other minorities.
Critics, however, say Nkunda is more interested in power and the country's mineral wealth.
Congo's 1998-2003 war drew at least a half-dozen armies from nearby nations, and fears have been rising that Nkunda's offensive could enlarge the same way.
The U.N. has authorized sending reinforcements.
