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Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has held direct talks with the leader of the M23 rebels in Uganda, hours after a regional summit called on them to end their offensive in the east of the country.
Jean-Marie Runiga Lugerero, the political leader of the eastern DR Congo rebel group, said on Sunday he had an initial meeting with Kabila after the summit in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, ended on Saturday.
While he was not invited to the summit itself, Runiga Lugerero told the AFP news agency he had been able to meet Kabila thanks to the mediation of Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan president, with whom he had been due to hold talks.
"The atmosphere was tense but afterwards, each [side] calmed the debate down because these are not personal problems, but problems of the country" that must be settled, he told AFP news agency by phone.
"I think the meeting went very well."
'Sweeping reforms'
Leaders at the summit in the Ugandan capital on Saturday said that the rebels should withdraw to positions at least 20 km north of Goma, the eastern DRC town in the province of North Kivu that they seized on Tuesday.
Runiga Lugerero, however, made it clear that any withdrawal would only come about after talks between the rebel movement and Kabila. M23 fighters will defend their positions if Congo's troops attacked, he warned.
Runiga Lugerero's announcement came just days after Kabila had appeared to rule out talks with the rebel force.
Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president accused of backing the rebels, did not attend the Kampala summit and instead delegated his foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo.
Rwanda and Uganda, also accused by the UN of supporting the rebels, deny the charges.
Al Jazeera's Peter Greste, reporting from Kampala, said M23 political leaders will have another round of talks with Kabila again in the Ugandan capital on Sunday.
Raymond Tshibanda, Congolese foreign minister, confirmed that the first meeting took place but said further face-to-face talks between Kabila and M23 were unlikely.
"It's very hard for the Congolese government to acknowledge that they are speaking to the rebels as they consider them an illegitimate group," Greste said.
"The M23 want to discuss sweeping reforms and broad issues concerning the country, like healthcare, education and human rights. They say these topics are on the table. But the government would find it very difficult to discuss such issues with them."
The M23 was launched by former fighters from the Tutsi ethnic group, the minority group that inhabits both Rwanda and DR Congo and to which Kagame belongs.
The rebels were integrated into the military under a March 23 2009 peace deal from which their name is derived. The mutineers say the terms of that deal were never fully implemented.
After the summit in Kampala ended, president Kabila was asked if he was happy with the outcome. He said he would be satisfied "when peace returns".
'Deep concerns'
The summit was officially reserved for the nations of the 11-member International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.
Dlamini Zuma, head of the AU commission, reiterated the blocs "deep concern at the worsening humanitarian situation on the ground and the abuses committed against the civilian populations".
The rebels captured Goma on Tuesday, and took the key town of Sake 20 kilometres to the west the next day.
The fighting has created a humanitarian crisis, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee, amid persistent reports that the M23 rebels have carried out atrocities against local people.
Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has held direct talks with the leader of the M23 rebels in Uganda, hours after a regional summit called on them to end their offensive in the east of the country.
Jean-Marie Runiga Lugerero, the political leader of the eastern DR Congo rebel group, said on Sunday he had an initial meeting with Kabila after the summit in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, ended on Saturday.
While he was not invited to the summit itself, Runiga Lugerero told the AFP news agency he had been able to meet Kabila thanks to the mediation of Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan president, with whom he had been due to hold talks.
"The atmosphere was tense but afterwards, each [side] calmed the debate down because these are not personal problems, but problems of the country" that must be settled, he told AFP news agency by phone.
"I think the meeting went very well."
'Sweeping reforms'
Leaders at the summit in the Ugandan capital on Saturday said that the rebels should withdraw to positions at least 20 km north of Goma, the eastern DRC town in the province of North Kivu that they seized on Tuesday.
Runiga Lugerero, however, made it clear that any withdrawal would only come about after talks between the rebel movement and Kabila. M23 fighters will defend their positions if Congo's troops attacked, he warned.
Runiga Lugerero's announcement came just days after Kabila had appeared to rule out talks with the rebel force.
Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president accused of backing the rebels, did not attend the Kampala summit and instead delegated his foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo.
Rwanda and Uganda, also accused by the UN of supporting the rebels, deny the charges.
Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri meets members of the group in Lake Sake. |
Raymond Tshibanda, Congolese foreign minister, confirmed that the first meeting took place but said further face-to-face talks between Kabila and M23 were unlikely.
"It's very hard for the Congolese government to acknowledge that they are speaking to the rebels as they consider them an illegitimate group," Greste said.
"The M23 want to discuss sweeping reforms and broad issues concerning the country, like healthcare, education and human rights. They say these topics are on the table. But the government would find it very difficult to discuss such issues with them."
The M23 was launched by former fighters from the Tutsi ethnic group, the minority group that inhabits both Rwanda and DR Congo and to which Kagame belongs.
The rebels were integrated into the military under a March 23 2009 peace deal from which their name is derived. The mutineers say the terms of that deal were never fully implemented.
After the summit in Kampala ended, president Kabila was asked if he was happy with the outcome. He said he would be satisfied "when peace returns".
'Deep concerns'
The summit was officially reserved for the nations of the 11-member International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.
Dlamini Zuma, head of the AU commission, reiterated the blocs "deep concern at the worsening humanitarian situation on the ground and the abuses committed against the civilian populations".
The rebels captured Goma on Tuesday, and took the key town of Sake 20 kilometres to the west the next day.
The fighting has created a humanitarian crisis, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee, amid persistent reports that the M23 rebels have carried out atrocities against local people.