DRC Rebels warn they will retake positions unless government negotiates

Congolese rebels on Saturday warned that they would battle to retake control in the country's troubled east if the government refused to halt its military offensive and begin negotiations.

 

The statement came a day after the M23 rebels -- a group of army mutineers -- announced a retreat from their positions following heavy fighting with the Congolese army which is backed by UN troops.

 

The rebels said Friday's decision for a 'unilateral ceasefire' and withdrawal was aimed at "creating a favourable climate" for a "political solution to the crisis".

 

However, they warned that they were not prepared to wait long for the government to reciprocate.

 

"We demand that the Congolese government return soon to the negotiating table to find a political solution to the crisis," Bertrand Bisimwa, the political president of the M23 rebels, said in the statement.

 

"If the Congolese government pushes on with the military option to the detriment to the Kampala (peace) talks, our armed forces reserve the right to retake control" of positions just outside Goma.

 

The rebels, who captured eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's regional capital Goma in November, had pulled out to just outside the city 12 days later.

 

A bloc of regional countries later struck a deal with the rebels to withdraw to 20 kilometres (12 miles) outside of Goma, as a prerequisite to start peace talks which opened in December in the Ugandan capital Kampala but which have stalled.

 

Congolese authorities have said the rebels did not fulfill their end of the deal.

 

In late March, the UN Security Council unanimously agreed to set up a brigade with a mandate to launch offensives against the rebels.

 

Together with the Congolese army, the UN troops launched an offensive on August 23 against the M23.

 

On Friday, the armed group announced that a 'unilateral ceasefire' and its withdrawal from Kanyarucinya, about 10 kilometres from Goma.

 

-Sapa