Congolese rebels launched attacks against government positions in eastern Congo yesterday, overshadowing attempts by Olusegun Obasanjo, the former Nigerian president, to push both sides towards talks, Matthew Green reports from Goma .

Mr Obasanjo, the United Nations special envoy to Congo, is spearheading efforts to defuse the crisis in the east of the country, where a two-month offensive by rebels loyal to Laurent Nkunda, the renegade general, has raised fears of a wider regional war.