Peace talks are useless when parties involved don’t stick to terms

Editor,Far be it from me to throw cold water on any effort aimed at finding a peaceful way out of the intra-Congolese conflict. For that to happen, however, it would be necessary to have a government in Kinshasa willing to engage in good faith negotiations with its rebellious former soldiers to resolve long-standing grievances arising from the inexistence of functioning state institutions over a wide swath of territory in the East, and attempts to alienate one component of the national population.