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The Angolan foreign minister was on a two-day visit Jan. 17 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where he will meet with DRC President Joseph Kabila to offer political and diplomatic assistance to help the country resolve conflict in North Kivu province. Should the North Kivu conflict move westward and threaten Kabila's hold on power, Angola probably would go beyond political and diplomatic assistance to offers of military intervention.

Angolan Foreign Minister Joao Miranda continued a two-day visit Jan. 17 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He is expected to offer political and diplomatic assistance to DRC President Joseph Kabila, who faces a rebellion in the eastern DRC province of North Kivu.

During the visit, Angola will offer the country political and diplomatic assistance. Should the conflict in North Kivu move westward and threaten Kabila’s hold on power in Kinshasa, however, Angola probably would offer military intervention in support of Kabila.

Kabila flew to attend peace talks Jan. 15 in North Kivu’s provincial capital, Goma. Numerous rebel groups and U.N. peacekeeping officials also attended. The absence of Kabila’s chief rival in North Kivu ensured no breakthrough in North Kivu took place, however. Kabila personally rejected inviting rebel Gen. Laurent Nkunda, whom the Kabila government accuses of war crimes, to the talks. Nkunda’s forces, believed to be obtaining support and arms from neighboring Rwanda, are the dominant fighting force in North Kivu. DRC attempts to dislodge Nkunda’s forces from North Kivu militarily have failed so far; the two sides fought as recently as December 2007.