UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday that fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo could spark a wider regional conflict and called for an immediate ceasefire.
"The secretary-general is following developments in the border areas of the ... Congo with increasing concern," U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters.
"The continued fighting between the (Congolese army) and the National Congress for People's Defence of Laurent Nkunda add to the suffering of the civilian population and risks provoking wider conflict in the region."
Ban appealed to Nkunda's party and the Congolese government to cooperate with the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo implementing an immediate cease-fire.
Kinshasa accused neighbouring Rwanda's army on Thursday of an incursion into Congolese territory after Congo's forces came under repeated attack from Tutsi rebels led by Nkunda, a renegade general, in the border province of North Kivu.
Congo has asked the U.N. Security Council to condemn Rwanda for attacking it and violating Congolese territorial sovereignty. U.N. officials say the peacekeeping force is still trying to confirm the veracity of Congo's charges.
Ban's statement did not explicitly refer to the allegation of a Rwandan incursion but urged the governments of Congo and Rwanda "to bridge their differences using diplomatic and other means available to them."
(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Chris Wilson)
