DR Congo rebels ready for talks
General Laurent Nkunda, the Congolese rebel leader, has said he is ready to negotiate with the government in Kinshasa without any pre-conditions to end fighting in the east of the country.
Ahead of a planned meeting with Olusegun Obasanjo, the UN envoy visiting DR Congo, Nkunda told Al Jazeera on Saturday that he was "asking only for direct negotiations".
Nkunda's remarks came as Obasanjo met Joseph Kabila, the country's president, in a bid to stop fighting between government troops and rebel forces.
After meeting Kabila in the capital Kinshasa, Obasanjo, a former Nigerian president, travelled to Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, where he said he would hold talks with Nkunda, who heads the National Congress for the Defence of People (CNDP).
clipped from: english.aljazeera.net 
