Right now in the Democratic Republic of Congo: bloodshed, violence, rebel armies sponsored by the  Rwandan government, European and African diplomats desperately negotiating failing cease-fires, Guatemalan militia brought in as peace keeping troops and cholera outbreaks in refugee camps where thousands of Congolese civilians have fled. Confused? Here’s what the world is saying:

The Times Online Congo Conflict slideshow gives some useful visuals.

The DRC borders Rwanda, on the left of the map below. The city of Goma (centre) is where many of the refugees have fled.

Murder, muddle and panic. The UN’s mission to Congo, known by the acronym MONUC, which has 17,000 peacekeepers across the country, including 6,000-odd in North Kivu, has been unable to cope. Diplomacy, hitherto fruitless, is intensifying. European diplomats, led by the foreign ministers of Britain and France, David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner, have visited regional capitals, calling for talks and troop reinforcements. The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, was set to host a summit on November 7th in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, bringing together the presidents of Congo and Rwanda, Joseph Kabila and Paul Kagame respectively, who have been sponsoring some of the rival rebel armies. Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has been tapped as a mediator; he immediately called for MONUC to be beefed up. The French government suggested that a robust European force of 400 to 1,500 soldiers be dispatched urgently to protect the humanitarian missions that are struggling to give relief to hundreds of thousands of hapless and hungry civilians. So far the European Union has been loth to give the go-ahead. — The Economist

Congo rebels not honoring cease-fire, official says. Rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are not honoring a cease-fire and have been killing dozens of soldiers and even civilians, a government official said Sunday. “It is clear that the cease-fire has been broken,” Minister of Communication Lambert Mende Omalanga told CNN. “They are killing people and looting the Congo. Omalanga said he has seen reports of as many as 200 people being killing in the Congo in the past week. CNN could not independently verify the figure. A United Nations spokesman said Saturday that fighting had continued in the Congo, and that a U.N. team confirmed reports of 26 bodies in the village of Kiwanja, where a human rights group had said rebels battled government-backed militias last week. — CNN

Rebel leader Nkunda vows to fight peacekeepers in Congo. The Tutsi rebel leader, Laurent Nkunda, today warned he would fight African peacekeepers if they were sent to back government troops in fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. A regional summit of African leaders said yesterday they would “not stand by” and watch the violence which has displaced about 250,000 people and led to UN accusations of war crimes over the systematic killing of civilians. Countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), including South Africa, Zimbabwe and Angola, agreed to send in “peacemaking forces” to the region of North Kivu “if and when necessary”. — The Guardian

Laurent Nkunda’s rebels killing innocent Congolese civilians. One wonders how long, how many massacres, how many millions of dead innocent civilians it will take before the International Criminal Court and other judicial jurisdictions indict, arrest and bring to justice this blood-thirsty warmonger and his supporters in Rwanda. — Congo Planet

Nkunda warns against troops in DRC. Congolese renegade leader General Laurent Nkunda has warned against African peacekeepers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, saying their deployment could ignite violence. Heads of southern African countries have also announced yesterday that they are prepared to send troops to DRC to help its government in the struggle against rebel forces led Mr Nkunda. “It would risk setting Great Lakes region on fire,” said Bertrand Bisimwa, a spokesman for the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) led by general Nkunda. “The government should favour political solutions, by engaging in talks with the CNDP, over military solutions. The country’s population is already suffering because of this,” he added. — Afrol News

Congo-Kinshasa: What will stop the fighting? A pledge by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to compliment UN peacekeeping forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with SADC soldiers does not take account of the regional body’s limited military capacity, a military analyst told IRIN. After an extraordinary heads-of-state summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 9 November, called to address Zimbabwe’s political impasse and DRC’s rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis, SADC Executive Secretary-General Tomaz Salomoa told reporters that “SADC should immediately provide assistance to the armed forces of DRC”, because “The security situation in DRC is affecting peace and stability in the SADC and Great Lakes region.” — All Africa

African leaders work to defuse conflict in Congo. While skirmishes continued to test a cease-fire in eastern Congo, leaders in southern Africa agreed to send military advisers to the region immediately and a peacekeeping force later if necessary. After an emergency summit meeting Sunday in Johannesburg, members of the Southern African Development Community called for an immediate cease-fire and the opening of safe corridors for aid to get through. Rebel forces led by General Laurent Nkunda have been battling Congolese government troops since August in a region where violence has raged on and off for a decade. Human rights groups say that about 250,000 people driven from their homes urgently need assistance. Salomao said the military advisers were being sent immediately. Peacekeeping troops, he said, would be sent “if and when necessary.” — International Herald Tribune

Doctors fight cholera oubreak in eastern Congo. Doctors struggled Sunday to contain an outbreak of cholera in a sprawling refugee camp near Congo’s eastern provincial capital of Goma, as renewed fighting ignited fears that patients could scatter and launch an epidemic. Some 50,000 refugees have crowded around Kibati, some taken into log cabins by villagers, others living in tents or hastily built beehive-shaped huts. Thousands who sleep out in the open huddled under plastic sheeting Sunday as curtains of rain pounded down. Doctors Without Borders said it treated 13 new cases of cholera in Kibati on Sunday and has seen 45 cases since Friday. The agency’s Dr. Rafaela Gentilini said shortages of water and latrines were making the outbreak “really dangerous.” — GMA News

Guatemala: the Kabiles as peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Kaibiles are soldiers in the Guatemalan Army that undergo a specialized, yet controversial training at a school in the northern part of the country, nicknamed “Hell”. Many Guatemalans reject the abusive training that the Kabiles receive, which some say, closely resembles self-inflicted torture. In the past, many of the soldiers have been involved in counter-insurgency operations, but also some have been accused of human-rights violations, but now they are mainly involved with anti-crime duties. In addition, the Kabiles have also been sent as Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where 72 Guatemalans are currently on the front line in the city of Goma. — Renata Avila at Global Voices