A fighter (L) from a local self-defence

A fighter (L) from a local self-defence force stands near a Congolese soldier on February 19, 2009 in Napopo, north-eastern Congo. The government in the Democratic Republic of Congo resumed talks on February 18 with the Tutsi rebel group formerly led by renegade general Laurent Nkunda. The latest meetings between government envoys and the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) rebels took place in the regional capital of Nord-Kivu, Goma. The talks were expanded to include other armed groups such as the local pro-government militia of the Congolese Resistance Patriots (Pareco). Talks broken off in mid-January when a joint Rwandan-Congolese military operation went after the Rwanda Hutu rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), also in the east of the country. AFP PHOTO / LIONEL HEALING (Photo credit should read LIONEL HEALING/AFP via Getty Images)