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Your World Today

Mahmoud Abbas: Talks With Hamas Have Broken Down; Drastic Measures Taken to Fight Violence in Iraq; Report Says IRA Has Abandoned Terror

Aired October 04, 2006 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A delicate mission. America's top diplomat tries to jumpstart the Middle East peace process even as Palestinian factions fight among themselves.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A positive report card. The IRA is no longer engaged in terrorism, according to a northern Ireland cease-fire watchdog.

CHURCH: And hiding in plain sight. He's a Congo rebel leader wanted for war crimes. Why hasn't the government caught up with him?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And his family was killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: And kidnapped from their habitat. Endangered gorillas from the mountains of central Africa at the mercy of man.

CHURCH: Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe.

I'm Rosemary Church.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

From Belfast to Ramallah, from Kinshasa to wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CHURCH: Well, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice holds talks in Ramallah amid some of the worst fighting between Palestinian factions in years.

CLANCY: Now, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas locked in a power struggle right now with the Hamas-led government. He says all of their talks about a unity government have broken down. The situation for him looks bleak.

CHURCH: It does.

In our other top story this hour, the humanitarian crisis in Africa's third-largest country.

CLANCY: We are talking about the Democratic Republic of Congo, the size of all of western Europe. It's rich in natural resources, but it's also a country of misery, with a history stained by violence, disease and malnutrition.

CHURCH: But we are going to begin in the Palestinian territories, where people already reeling from international sanctions face new tensions. President Abbas says dialogue with the ruling Hamas is over for now.

Well, Ben Wedeman joins us live via broadband from Ramallah in the West Bank.

Ben, dialogue over for now, but this is a process, isn't it? And Abbas hasn't lost hope on that unity government.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, he did sound fairly definite when he said that there's no longer dialogue and that he has to go back to square one when it comes to these negotiations with the Hamas-led government. But we -- I -- we heard him say basically the same thing a week and a half ago when he was in Cairo returning from the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly.

So this is nothing new, but it certainly does take on added significance following the clashes this weekend in Gaza which left 12 people dead. Those clashes between Fatah loyalists and Hamas.

Now, that was -- he said -- he made the statement before the arrival of U.S. Secretary State Condoleezza Rice. She was here in Ramallah for about two hours. She left about 10 minutes ago, heading towards Jerusalem.

Now, she discussed with President Abbas the situation and the negotiations to form this national unity government. And she expressed her hope that somehow the peace process, if you recall that one, would be revived between Israel and the Palestinians. But really, her focus was more on practical things. For instance, she did express a desire to see the crossings between Gaza and Egypt and Israel reopened again.

This is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: The first is that I do hope that we can come to some understandings about how to make the agreement on movement and access more functional. Clearly, a lot has happened since that agreement was signed, but it is still important that Carny (ph) be able to operate. It is still important that there be at least some openings of Rafah. I'm glad to know that it was opened a couple of times during Ramadan, but I think we need to work on those issues.

Those are the kinds of on-the-ground things that make it easier for the Palestinian people. I think we will also discuss ways that we might make more resources available, at least for some of the needs that have been identified by the international community for the Palestinian people. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: And Rosemary, it's on these sort of practical steps that there is room for improvement. But in the broader picture, the situation in the words of one Palestinian official I spoke to is bleak and grim.

Many Palestinians will say, look, we have our own political problems. In Israel there's a weak government following the Lebanon war. At this point, there's very limited number of options that either side can follow. In fact, one senior Palestinian official I spoke to said he really didn't understand why Secretary Rice came here in the first place -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Indeed. All right.

Ben Wedeman reporting there from Ramallah.

Thanks so much -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, let's go to Iraq now, where a suicide bomber blew up his truck. It was outside Iraqi army headquarters.

It happened in the Sunni stronghold of Ramadi. That is the capital of the rest of Anbar Province. Police say several people were wounded. The base is very close to several U.S. military installations.

Now, Ramadi has long been a hotbed of insurgent activity. And U.S. and Iraqi forces have struggled time and again to try to take control of that city.

CHURCH: Well, the Iraqi government is taking serious steps to tackle another major problem: the infiltration of its police by Shiite death squads. A brigade of up to 700 policemen was taken off the streets of Baghdad. The move comes after the kidnappings of two dozen people on Sunday. Now, the past week also saw the highest number of car bombs and roadside bombs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: In September we did see a rise in sensational attacks. Last week we also saw the highest number of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices this year that were both found and cleared, and those that were detonated. The number of IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, is also at an all-time high. But Iraqi security forces and coalition forces continue to find and clear a portion of these devices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Let's take stock of this situation. We just heard the general there saying all-time highs. All of this comes as U.S. and Iraqi forces have been carrying out district-by-district sweeps of the capital. It started back in August.

What is the situation on the ground in Baghdad, in Ramadi, across Iraq?

Let's go to CNN's Michael Ware. He joins us live from Baghdad.

This doesn't look good. And the Iraqi people themselves are saying we frankly cannot believe that the U.S. can't get a grip on the situation, the security situation in our country.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very much, Jim. I mean, people believe that, honestly, they can see the violence spiraling out of control. And what they are now getting a sense of is, this is the first taste of the whole thing starting to unravel.

And there's great disenchantment clearly with the U.S. forces who Iraqis had hoped had come to liberate them and then, you know, set their country on a path forward. However, they saw the Americans stay. And they've seen the situation deteriorate.

So that's where we are now. And this is the Ramadan offensive. So violence is very much peaking.

This sensational car bombing in Ramadi, we had a triple bomb attack this morning on a Ministry of Industry convoy which killed at least 12 and wounded as many as 70. I mean, the cycle of violence is just getting greater.

Now we see U.S. forces and its Iraqi partner and the prime minister of Iraq taking on one of the most powerful factions within the government. Putting this brigade of Ministry of Interior national police off line, essentially quarantining them and going through them for what an American spokesmen said was complicity in sectarian violence -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, you know, and you look at -- people look on and Iraqis look on at this situation. They have people in interior ministry vans and vehicles pulling up, wearing the clothing of commandos, taking hostages that are never seen or heard from again.

What is going on, Michael? Who is behind it?

WARE: Well, everyone's in it, basically, Jim. I mean, this is the nature of the sectarian violence.

There's hair splitting over whether it's actually civil war, but we are seeing on the street, as far as people are concerned, this is civil war. It is akin to ethnic cleansing.

When men in a gas station queue can be grilled about their sectarian beliefs and removed as a result, when police commandos can enter your house in the middle of the night, haul you off, and the next your family knows is you are dead on the street, that can be factions within the government. Sometimes it's associated militias donning those uniforms for that night.

U.S. military intelligence talks about ministries renting out their vehicles to death squads for the evenings. It's also Sunni insurgents putting on military uniforms. Everybody is in this game, so to speak -- Jim.

CLANCY: And everybody is paying the price.

Michael Ware, as always, thank you very much.

CHURCH: All right. We want to go to another world trouble spot now. But some good news to report on this occasion.

A former terror organization going full circle and abandoning terrorism. A report by a watchdog agency says the IRA has shut down key units, is urging members to abandon criminal activities, and is no longer -- or no longer poses a security threat.

Well, a short time ago the British prime minister welcomed that report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The IRA's campaign is over. There is now a consensus across all the main players in the politics of northern Ireland that change can only come through persuasion and not through violence of any sort.

The IRA has done what we asked it to do. And while issues like policing remain to be resolved, the door is now open to a final settlement, which is why the talks next week in Scotland are going to be so important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And for more, let's go to Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson.

Nic, welcome news to many.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is, though certainly in northern Ireland there's still some skepticism about -- about this statement. But as the British prime minister has said, the talks that are going to happen in Scotland next week which brings together all the political parties of northern Ireland to try and get that devolved assembly, the northern Ireland assembly, back up and running -- remember it was suspended about four years ago on accusations of spying within the assembly itself. These talks are aimed to get the assembly up and running. And the talks have a deadline of the 24th of November for all the parties to agree.

The principal stumbling block as it's been viewed recently in northern Ireland is that the democratic Unionist Party of Ian Paisley, the majority Protestant political party, didn't believe that the IRA was going to make good on its commitments to not only disarm, but to dismantle its military structures, and that's what the Independent Monitoring Commission has said today, and that's why we're hearing the optimism from British prime minister Tony Blair, that, in theory, this hurdle for the democratic Unionist Party has been cleared.

However, these talks that have yet to take place next week in Scotland will happen under an air of suspicion. So the democratic Unionist Party traditionally very opposed to even talking and dealing directly with Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: So you mentioned the disarming of the IRA. What evidence is there that they are definitely going down that path?

ROBERTSON: Well, the Independent Monitoring Commission draws its information from the security services of -- the British security services in northern Ireland, the police in northern Ireland. Also, the security services and the police of the south of Ireland, as well.

They have put together this report. Their job is to report on paramilitary activity. And they draw on those intelligence and security sources. And the analysis has been that the IRA has stopped its training, has stopped its procurement of weapons, has stopped its recruiting, and has even gone to the step which goes beyond their paramilitary terror activities in the past to report of punishment beatings within the community, to say that the IRA leadership and Sinn Fein political leadership is taking steps to stop those punishment- type beatings within their communities.

So it's on that basis that this report has been -- has been put forward. But again, there are people in northern Ireland, particularly the democratic unionists, who traditionally don't trust any steps the IRA has taken in the past, or its political interlocutor, Sinn Fein -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson.

Thanks so much.

CLANCY: Let's shift our focus now to Asia, where North Korea's neighbors have been warning Pyongyang it will pay a price if it goes ahead with a plan to threaten nuclear tests. China the latest country urging North Korea to show some restraint.

Monday, Pyongyang announced plans to conduct a test of a weapon. Intelligence sources in Japan and South Korea say there are no signs of preparations for such a trial.

Now, Iran is considering a rather novel way to reassure the world about its nuclear ambitions. It plans to open its nuclear facilities to tourists.

State-run television reporting that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants to prove that his program is peaceful and transparent. The Iranian president also repeated that the possibility of sanctions would not stop his government from going ahead with enrichment of uranium.

CHURCH: All right. Our special in-depth look into Africa is coming up next.

CLANCY: That's right. Anderson Cooper journeys to a remote hilltop hideout. That's in eastern Congo. His mission, a meeting with a well-armed rebel commander accused of war crimes. What's his story?

Coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Congo is badly in need of someone -- someone who can persuade the various arm factions to join in a national army to bring about peace and security in the country. But armed rebel groups very reluctant to give up their independence.

Anderson Cooper took advantage of a rare opportunity to ask the leader of one of the largest rebel factions some pretty tough questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a rain- soaked valley in eastern Congo, a rebel army sings of war. They may appear a motley bunch. Some have no shoes, others mismatched uniforms. But they do have weapons and the power to disrupt the Congo's fragile peace.

Their leader agreed to meet with us but to find him we had to travel to his remote hilltop hideout.

(on camera): We're on our way to see General Lauren Nkunda. He's a rebel commander with several thousand troops. So far he's been unwilling to give up his weapons.

He's been accused of a host of war crimes and human rights violations. His troops are known to have looted villages, raped women. He's been accused of ordering the summary executions of dozens of prisoners. The Congolese government issued an international arrest warrant for him, but so far it seems no one has been able or willing to apprehend him.

(voice-over): General Nkunda controls about 1,200 square miles in eastern Congo, an area roughly the size of Rhode Island. Getting to him, however, isn't easy. Checkpoints are everywhere and his soldiers are wary.

That's Jason Stearns. He's a Congo expert with the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit organization which monitors conflicts around the world.

JASON STEARNS, CONGO EXPERT, INTL. CRISIS GROUP: He says there's no problem. He's told the general will come in.

COOPER: The soldiers get in one of our vehicles to show us the way. At General Nkunda's compound security is tight, his soldiers are heavily armed.

(on camera): What is your plan?

GENERAL LAURENT NKUNDA, REBEL LEADER: Our plan is that if the election conducted, we'll talk with the one who will win the election. If there will be a disaster, there will be an alternative to protect the people and to relieve the situation.

COOPER: There have been allegations that you have committed war crimes, violated human rights. Is that true?

NKUNDA: In this area or out of this area?

COOPER: Out of this area. They say that in Kisangani in 2002 that you ordered the execution of 160 people. Is that true?

NKUNDA: Not true.

COOPER: They say that in 2004 there are allegations that in Bukavu your soldiers looted widespread, committed many rapes. In fact, Human Rights Watch cites an incidence of a woman being raped in front of her husband and her children and one of your soldiers, they say, raped a 3-year-old child.

NKUNDA: No, it's before I arrive in Bukavu.

COOPER: So this stuff happened before you got here?

NKUNDA: Before I arrived in Bukavu.

COOPER (voice-over): Despite his denials, abuses by General Nkunda's soldiers are well documented. Jason Stearns was in the town of Bukavu when the general's soldiers took over.

(on camera): What did you see?

STEARNS: Well, you see -- you're walking through the neighborhoods at night you hear people screaming left and right as soldiers breaking into houses pillaging. Personal friends of mine, close to mine, had their children raped, their people killed.

COOPER: They were raping children?

STEARNS: They were raping children, his troops were.

COOPER (voice over): Aid workers believe hundreds of thousands have been victimized by soldiers from various armies and rebel groups.

While General Nkunda talks of reconciliation, his army continues to train for war. His officers get refresher courses in military tactics, like how to conduct an ambush.

The U.N. is trying to get all of these militia groups to join a new national army, trying to get Congolese to think beyond their ethnic or tribal identity. General Nkunda, however, wants his troops loyal to him. He is one of the Congo's last remaining warlords, waiting for elections, positioning himself for whatever the future may bring.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, as we've learned, millions of people have been casualties of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

CLANCY: Now, still to come, we are going to have a look at the other victims. Baby gorillas bringing a hefty ransom. Where? On the black market.

Their story is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello, everyone. I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. But first, a check on stories making headlines in the United States.

Investigators in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, are still looking for clues. Amish families preparing to bury their dead children. Police say Charles Roberts spent almost a week planning Monday's attack at an Amish school.

Five Amish girls died, five others still in critical or serious condition. Funeral sources for four of the victims will be held tomorrow. The fifth is scheduled for Friday.

On Capitol Hill, a call to temporarily suspend the congressional page program. Representative Ray LaHood says 15 and 16-year-old boys and girls should not be subjected to questionable activity. The system has been under the microscope since the scandal involving a disgraced former congressman.

Mark Foley is accused of sending sexually-charged Internet messages to former teen pages. LaHood is a close House ally of House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Some top Republicans are rushing to the defense of the embattled speaker. Hastert says he won't resign the leadership post over his handling of the e-mail scandal. It already forced Foley's resignation. President Bush has voiced his support for Hastert, as have some GOP leaders on Capitol Hill.

The number two Republican in the House, John Boehner, says Hastert should not resign. But he also says he thought Hastert had dealt with the issue months ago.

A truck bomb exploded today outside of the Iraqi army headquarters in the city of Ramadi. A number of people are said to be wounded, but no deaths have been reported. At least a dozen people were killed at a series of bombings in a Baghdad neighborhood. More than 70 others were hurt. It happened as a convoy from Iraq's industry ministry was passing by.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the U.S. was worried about the plight of Palestinians and will redouble efforts to help. Rice met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah today. She's trying to bolster Abbas in his stand-off with Hamas, and she is hoping to revive the Israeli Palestinian peace process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I know there have been some good meetings between the Israelis and the Palestinians at the official level. And we hope that those will continue. General Dayton (ph) is working on some of those security issues. But it's my hope that it will not be very long before there can be a meeting between the president and Prime Minister Olmert. I know they will choose the time. But we hope that it will take place in the near future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And Rice will likely carry that message to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when they meet for dinner tonight.

A sulphuric acid leak had a Houston plant has been contained. Still, officials advise people living near the Valero refinery to stay indoors for the moment. Seven people have been treated for possible exposure to the vapors.

A married couple in Iowa have struck it reach. Tim and Kelly Kadari (ph) the solo winning ticket for the September 23rd Powerball jackpot. It is worth nearly $201 million before taxes. They've opted for the lump sum pay-out of only $95 million. What will they ever do on $95 million? They bought the ticket at a convenience store in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had stopped to buy some pop, and decided to buy a ticket as well. Sunday night, I was sitting in the chair looking at the numbers and comparing the ticket. All I could say was oh my god, oh my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Oh my god, oh my god. As for their future plans, they want to take a vacation to Australia, pay bills, buy a new car, and keep working? He's an auto detailor and she works for Wal-Mart.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: You will want to stay right here in the "CNN NEWSROOM." This afternoon, how to talk school safety with your kids without scaring them. Meantime, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break. I'm Tony Harris.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Jim Clancy.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. Here are some of the top stories we've been following. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says unity government talks with Hamas have broken down. The refusal of Hamas to recognize the state of Israel led to the impasse. Now it comes as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Abbas. She said she's concerned about the plight of the Palestinian people, and pledged to work to improve their living conditions.

CLANCY: Northern Ireland's cease-fire watchdog says it no longer believes the Irish Republican Army poses a security threat. The independent monitoring commission delivered that assessment one year after the IRA committed to end its armed struggle against British rule. Now, British and Irish leaders are hoping that will cool progress on power-sharing talks next week that are going to be held in Scotland.

Well, we're turning now to our special coverage of Africa. The conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region certainly has dominated the headlines.

CHURCH: It has. And it's attracted megastars like George Clooney that have been drumming up attention at the U.N. Security Council. The Save Darfur organization is encouraging people to fast on Thursday in solidarity with Darfurians observing Ramadan.

CLANCY: Well, despite all the tension, the situation doesn't appear, in any way, shape or form, to be getting any better.

CHURCH: It doesn't. Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange went on patrol with African Union troops.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: These are the men trying to stand in the way of genocide. We tagged along with this battalion of the African Union Peacekeeping force in Darfur, to see what chance they have of succeeding.

Their assignment on this day is to travel 50 miles to the town of Tawiya, the scene of a recent attack that forced nearly 15,000 villagers to flee their homes. It was a journey these peacekeepers could not complete.

Along the way, the patrol takes a routine stop for information. Just as they are moving out, their commander's radio crackles with a message from headquarters.

(on camera): Halfway on the road to Tawiya, we have just been informed that there's some rebel activity not too far from where we are and that we have to turn around immediately and head back towards El Fasher.

(voice-over): Four weeks ago this battalion lost nearly a dozen men in a gun battle with antigovernment rebels who stole their vehicles and weapons. They are not about to take chances on this day.

We returned to base and these men are tired. Frustrated. Their morale, low.

Their new force commander is only days into his new job. But this peacekeeping veteran of wars as far way as Kosovo, Liberia and Congo will be the first to tell you his mandate here is a mission impossible.

MAJOR GENERAL LUKE APREZI, A.U. FORCE COMMANDER: Simply put, the force has inadequate, gross inadequacy of men and material. We cannot carry out simple peacekeeping duties. We cannot provide the enabling environment for humanitarians to do their work.

KOINANGE (on camera): If you had a wish list, if someone said, here, General, what do you need carry your mission, what would it be?

APREZI: I need about at least twice the number of troops I have on the ground and I need adequate logistics and air assets to be able to carry out the duties, for me to carry out the mandate given to me.

KOINANGE (voice-over): But the battalion is back on patrol. Despite their lack of resources and manpower, heading to this makeshift city of plastic tents, population, 43,000 internally displaced people. A polite term for refugees in their own country.

People like 47-year-old farmer Abubaka Ahmed Abdanr (ph), who recently fled fighting in his village, 50 miles away, with his wife and 12 children. Now trying to make a living selling fruit with protection from these African Union peacekeepers.

I am alive because of these peacekeepers, he says. God bless them.

But these peacekeepers didn't reach Tawiya. And they don't achieve peace here. There just aren't enough of them and they don't have enough firepower to protect even themselves from the warring factions here.

So these are the men trying to stand in the way of genocide. They don't stand a chance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE: All right, Jeff Koinange joins us now by way of broadband. We're hoping the satellites hold up here. Jeff is in Al Fashar (ph), in northern Darfur.

Jeff, I want to talk a little bit about the mission and all of that. But before I get to it though, there are a lot of misconceptions around the globe about who are the good guys, who are the bad guys? Oftentimes people say it's the government of Sudan, the Janjaweed militia that are the bad guys, but these peacekeeper seem be believing the rebels are no angels either.

CLANCY: That's right, Jim, and they're all over this area. In fact you don't have to drive very far to see various factions.

And you know, that peace deal that was signed in May, various factions of it signed it, others didn't. The ones that didn't broke up into even smaller factions. So there's all kinds of rebel groups traversing the terrain out there.

And these peacekeepers, they have their hands literally tied behind their backs, because, a, they cannot engage them. Their mandate says shoot only if fired upon. They need what is known as a chapter seven mandate, so that they can literally go after the bad guys. They know where they are. They are in the displacement camps. They can't go after them -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right, all of us have this conception that there's a deal in place, that U.N. peacekeepers might be on their way. The reality is very different. If there is a compromise, if Sudan says the African Union can stay as a U.N. force, perhaps, what's needed for them? What do they need to have?

KOINANGE: If a U.N. forces is agreed, Jim, they need, a, the numbers. B, they need logistics. Lots of airplanes, lots of firepower, because these rebels are literally armed to the teeth. They need access to the air, because right now the air is shutdown. The African Union cannot fly sometimes because the Sudanese government covers that. They need a clear -- a carte blanche, if you will, to go where they want, when they want and to engage these troops.

And here's the other deal, Jim, this deal with the African Union that was extended for 90 days, they're expecting another 4,000 African Union troops on the ground at that time. That's logistically impossible to move 4,000 troops in 90 days. That mandate will have to be extended into the new year.

But what's being hoped for on the ground is that by January 1st, there will be blue hats, United Nations peacekeepers, on the ground, hopefully as many as 20,000, in order to quell the situation here. If not, Jim, it's going to get a lot worse than it already is.

CLANCY: All right, Jeff Koinange, one of the most important stories in the world today, what's happening on the ground in Darfur.

Jeff, as always, thank you very much.

CHURCH: All right, coming up, some breaking developments in the case of former U.S. Congressman Mark Foley.

CLANCY: That's right. We're going to go live to Washington, right after this short break.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, we are getting news of now developments on a sex scandal that's put former U.S. Congressman Mark Foley right at the center. We want to go to Kelli Arena, who's in Washington.

Well, we just got confirmation from a senior Justice Department official that a letter was sent to a lawyer for the House of Representatives asking for a computer and all the other materials in Congressman Foley's office is secured and preserved. Now that's obviously because it may be needed in a future criminal investigation. The move was described by officials as very much standard operating procedure. And we asked, but that letter will not be made public by the Justice Department.

As for the ongoing investigation in general, sources do not know when it will formally be triggered. So they say that that does appear to be imminent. Shortly after that it's believed that search warrants will be issued for all of the congressman's computers, laptops, hard drives, discs, any other material. Sources say that the FBI would prefer to remove the material itself rather than have it handed over. So there's some negotiations going on. We're also told by officials who have been briefed that several pages have already been interviewed. Those are some young people who had formerly worked on the Hill, and that investigators continued to have the process of identifying some others, preparing to interview them as well. Foley himself at this point has not been interviewed. That's where we are at this point.

CHURCH: All right, Kelli Arena. Some developments from Washington. We'll keep an eye on all of that. Thanks so much.

CLANCY: We're going to have to take a break here, but we'll be right back.

CHURCH: We will. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Earlier, Anderson Cooper told us about the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and its efforts to help the gorillas there in Goma who are struggling to survive there.

CHURCH: That's right. And Anderson trekked through forest to get up close and personal with some of the few remaining mountain gorillas of Congo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): After years and war of government neglect, the nothing is easy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. To find the remaining last mountain gorillas, you have to drive for hours along bumpy dirt roads, then, guarded by park rangers, hack your way through thick forests.

(on camera): There's only about 700 mountain gorillas left in the entire world, and all of them live in central Africa. They live in two distinct groups. One group of about 320 live on a mountain in Uganda. The other, about 380 of them, live here in here in the Virungas, a densely forested series of mountains that straddle Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

(voice-over): In Rwanda, the mountain gorillas are the country's biggest tourist attraction, bringing in about $2 million a year. But here in the Congo, years of fighting have driven away the tourists. And since 1994, more than 100 of these park rangers have been killed.

(on camera): The gorillas here in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are under threat from all sides. Farmers desperate for land are encroaching on their habitat. So are miners who are exploiting the national resources of the country. Miners also need food to eat. And so they hunt gorillas. They also set traps, snares for other animals that the gorillas get caught in.

(voice-over): Many gorillas have lost hands to snares. Others have died from subsequent infections, or have been killed by poachers looking to steal baby gorillas and sell them on the black market. The park rangers patrol every day, searching for snares set by poachers.

(on camera): These guards protect the gorillas from hunters and poachers, but their salaries aren't being paid by the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In fact, the government here can rarely pay anybody's salary. The salaries are picked up by the U.N. and a consortium of private conservation groups. But without these guards, it's likely many more gorillas would get killed.

(voice-over): After hiking for more than an hour, the park rangers find a nest where a family of gorillas spent the night. Nearby, they discover food.

(on camera): These are the bamboo shoots...

(voice-over): ... recently eaten by the gorillas.

A few feet away, in a small clearing, we get our first sight of the mountain gorillas. They are playing together.

(on camera): There's nine gorillas in this group. And every gorilla group is headed by an adult male, called the silver back. That's the silver back right over there, because of the distinctive coloring on his back. A fully grown silver back can weigh about 500 pounds.

PATRICK MELLMAN (ph), DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND: His name is Oomba (ph), and we think he's about 22, 24 years of age. He's the only silver back in this group.

COOPER (voice-over): Patrick Mellmann is a gorilla expert with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and Conservation International.

MELLMAN: He's just testing us, it's OK. He's just trying to pass now. Just let him pass. As long as he doesn't feel like we're doing anything threatening, he'll just walk right by us. As he did.

COOPER (voice-over): Gorillas are highly susceptible to human diseases, so visitors are only allowed one hour with the mountain gorillas. But it's more than worth the trip.

(on camera): Visiting the mountain gorillas is probably one of the most incredible and intimate experiences you can have with an animal in the wild. When you are this close to the gorillas and you see their eyes, you see how intelligent they are and how similar they are to human beings. Each one really has a unique personality. Each one is an individual.

(voice-over): Despite the obstacles mountain gorillas still face, they are in some ways a success story. In recent years, their numbers have been slowly climbing. For other gorillas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, however, the so-called lowland gorillas, the picture is much bleaker.

MELLMAN: The lowland gorillas have indeed suffered from the effects of civil war, because you've several armies and all of these armed rebel groups moving through the habitat. And there are occasions when they'll just take out their AK-47s and have target practice. That happens.

COOPER: That happens, and likely will continue to happen until a government takes hold in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that makes protecting gorillas a priority if not on principal, then simply as a way to bring in some desperately-need tourist dollars.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, Goma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Great pictures, riveting stories. Stay tuned to CNN to see more of our "Out of Africa" series.

CHURCH: "ANDERSON COOPER 360" will focus on Africa's most challenging humanitarian crisis. That's Wednesday at 02:00 GMT.

CLANCY: Well, that has to be it for this hour. We hope you enjoyed it.

I'm Jim Clancy.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church.

And this is CNN.

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