Congo Rebel Leader Threatens War

The effort to maintain the cease-fire -- in name only, as acts of violence still have been occurring -- in the Democratic Republic of the Congo looks incredibly shaky tonight as the leader of the Tutsi rebels says if there are no face-to-face talks, there will be no peace. More:

"General Laurent Nkunda, the Congolese rebel leader, has threatened war on the Congolese government unless direct talks are held.

'If there is no negotiation, let us say then there is war,' Nkunda told reporters after meeting Olusegun Obasanjo, the UN special envoy, in the rebel commander's native village, Jomba on Saturday.

Nkunda, whose forces have routed government troops and gained swathes of territory in North Kivu province in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo since launching a new offensive in August, has repeatedly demanded negotiations.

He said he had been told by Obasanjo that Kinshasa had accepted the principle of talks.

'I know that [the government] has no capacity to fight, so they have only one choice - negotiations,' Nkunda said."

Meanwhile, calls are mounting to send an emergency European Union force to stop the fighting (and humanitarian disaster) in the DRC. Because even though the Security Council approved more than 3,000 extra troops and police for the peacekeeping mission, it's still not certain where they're going to get the reinforcements. And meanwhile, the Congolese people wait for the worst.

Word also comes that the war has not been resulted in the level of devastation feared for Congo's endangered mountain gorillas: an expedition to Mount Mikeno on Friday found five babies in a group of about 30.

(Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)