Rebel chief warns DRC
2008-11-04 11:44
Kichanga - Democratic Republic of Congo rebel chief Laurent Nkunda has threatened to drive the government from power unless it holds direct talks on his demands.
But the government of President Joseph Kabila moved quickly on Monday to reject the demand of the renegade general whose forces have beaten the army out of several towns in the east of the Central African country, extending a decade of conflict which has seen more than three million people killed.
Dressed in green beret, military fatigues and dark sunglasses, Nkunda accused the international community of failing ethnic Tutsis in a meeting with reporters at his jungle base on Sunday.
"We want direct negotiations with the government, I am waiting for an answer," said the 41-year-old rebel.
"It is their choice whether to refuse negotiations with us. But we are going to pressure them to have negotiations otherwise we will force them from power."
Moving from French into English, Nkunda said his forces would "liberate" DRC. "For us, Congo is under occupation. An occupation of negative forces protected by our government. And our government has betrayed his people."
"Even if they can kill Nkunda or whoever, this shout of freedom will continue to cry."
Nkunda, who has a force of about 5 000 fighters, said his troops were at the gates of Goma, capital of Nord-Kivu province, and had infiltrated Goma airport.
Nkunda again denied that he receives support from Rwanda. The Kinshasa government has accused Rwanda's ethnic Tutsi-dominated government of backing Nkunda's rebels.
Rwanda denies the charge, but analysts say the Kigali government - frustrated by its neighbour's failure to disarm Rwandan Hutu rebels, the FLDR, harbouring perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against Tutsis - is helping Nkunda.
"I have no support from Rwanda," said Nkunda, who insisted he is fighting for the rights of Congolese Tutsis against the Rwandan Hutus.
Nkunda strongly criticised the UN Mission in DRC (MONUC), whose peacekeepers have also said he gets backing from Rwanda.
"The mission of MONUC was to secure populations, but for the last five or six years, they haven't chased the FDLR," declared Nkunda.
The rebel general said some DRC brigades give weapons to the Hutu rebels and that MONUC had ignored the events. "It's a plot of the international community. It's difficult to resist if you love your country."
Like many Congolese Tutsis, Nkunda began his military career in the ranks of the Rwandan Patriotic Front which ended the genocide of the Hutu regime.