UN Secretary General in Burundi for Talks on Conflict in DR Congo

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (C-L) and Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye (C-R) at Statehouse in Bujumbura, on May 5, 2023

AFP

By Daniel Bellamy with Agencies

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has flown to Burundi for talks with its President about the conflict in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Burundi has contributed around a hundred soldiers to a regional peacekeeping force in eastern DRC just across its border where Congo's army is fighting the rebel M23 group.

"I renew my call for de-escalation, appeasement, and restraint. Armed groups of all kinds, local and foreign, must lay down their arms in the DRC," Guterres said on Saturday after he arrived.

Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is rich in rare minerals that are in demand across the world.

The wealth on offer has encouraged many rebel groups to form and try to seize the mines from the government.

It's resulted in many years of conflict and forced over a million people to flee to other countries.

"The fighting must stop immediately before this conflict turns into a civil war that could destroy the country and disrupt the region for years to come. All parties must defuse the tensions, come to the negotiating table, and agree to a stable and lasting cease-fire," Guterres said.

60 bodies were discovered in several villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, authorities said Wednesday.

On Wednesday in 60 bodies were discovered in several villages in North Kivu Province, Congolese authorities said.