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Govt has 'launched war' by not negotiating: DR Congo rebels
Kinshasa (AFP) Nov 3, 2008 The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has "launched the war on its people" by refusing to negotiate with rebel forces, their spokesman told AFP Monday. "In rejecting the offer of direct dialogue with the CNDP (National Congress for the Defence of the People), as recommended by the parliament, the government has just confirmed its militarist position," CNDP spokesman Bertrand Bisimwa told AFP by telephone from Kinshasa. The CNDP rebel forces led by renegade Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda inflicted a heavy defeat last month on government forces in the east of Congo and have threatened to drive out the government unless there are direct talks. Kinshasa on Monday rejected the proposal. "It is an act of sabotage," said Bisimwa. "The government has just launched the war on its people." CNDP troops are about 15 kilometres (10 miles) from the gates of Goma, capital of the province of Nord-Kivu. "The people are going to take charge, that is to say defend themselves against this government which has rebelled against the parliament," which on Thursday called on the government to hold talks with the rebels, Bisimwa added. "We think that the population has the right to hunt this government from power," he said. Although the government has refused to hold direct talks with the CNDP it has said it will negotiate with all armed groups operating in the Kivu region -- which includes Nkunda's force. "There are no small and large armed groups," said government spokesman Lambert Mende. "The act of creating a humanitarian disaster does not give special rights," he added. Although Nkunda's force is the largest armed group currently operating there, several others have operated in the mineral-rich eastern Congo since the 1994 genocide of Tutsis over the border in Rwanda. They include members of the Rwandan Hutu FLDR, whose number include perpetrators of thate 1994 genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda. Nkunda said he took up arms because the Kinshasa government failed to protect Tutsi communities in the east against the FLDR forces. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
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