Rwanda urges DRC to negotiate with rebels as M23 advances into South Kivu

Rwanda, which backs M23 rebels who seized Goma in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this week, has called for a ceasefire across eastern DRC and for Kinshasa to negotiate with the rebels while denying Rwandan troops were involved.

On Wednesday, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told Reuters news agency by telephone that fighting will halt in Goma itself because it is now controlled by the rebels. People in Goma said looting and sporadic gunfire continued on Wednesday.

"But Rwanda supports that there be a ceasefire in the whole region (of eastern Congo) and that there be a dialogue, which we have been requesting for a long time between the DRC and M23," he said.

DRC says Rwanda backs M23 and Rwandan forces helped M23 militants capture Goma, the biggest city in eastern Congo, on Monday.

Rwanda denies its forces have crossed into DRC and describes its own military's actions as solely defensive.

Nduhungirehe did not comment on any steps Kigali could or would take to ensure a ceasefire in eastern DRC.

On Wednesday, M23 rebels were moving south from Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, in what appeared to be an attempt to expand their area of control.

Nduhungirehe said the loss of Goma weakened DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and his only option was to negotiate with the rebels.

"Now that Goma has fallen, there needs to be a way out, and this is the only remaining option," Nduhungirehe said, claiming that Rwanda has always opposed a military solution.

DRC considers M23 a terrorist group and refuses to negotiate directly with it. DRC's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner has called on the UN Security Council to sanction Rwanda for its support of M23.

The rebels' rapid movement through DRC's mineral-rich east since the start of the year followed a breakdown in peace talks between DRC and Rwanda in mid-December.

As ethnic conflict between Hutus and Tutsis persists as one of the causes of fighting today, Rwanda claims that Rwandans who participated in the country's 1994 genocide fled to DRC and the Congolese military has integrated or supported them.

'Goma cannot be an end in itself'

On Wednesday morning, the M23 faced no resistance in seizing Kiniezire and Mukwidja in neighbouring South Kivu, a local source and residents said.

"There was no fighting" amid the latest advance, said a local civil society leader on condition of anonymity, for security reasons.

Several residents of the two villages, contacted by telephone by the AFP news agency, confirmed the capture of the area.

Rich in precious metals, North and South Kivu have been at the heart of more than 30 years of conflict involving scores armed groups.

In South Kivu, the DRC's armed forces (FARDC) have established their main line of defence in the city of Kavumu, which has an airfield.

Bukavu city, capital of South Kivu, could also be threatened if the M23 breaks through the FARDC defences in Kavumu.

Some of the DRC's forces stationed in Goma and driven out by the attacks of the M23 fled the city by boat on Lake Kivu to take refuge in Bukavu.

The M23 "will continue" in eastern DRC, and even beyond, a senior Rwandan diplomat told AFP on Wednesday.

"They will continue in South Kivu, because Goma cannot be an end in itself," said Vincent Karega, Rwanda's roving ambassador for the Great Lakes region.

The M23 entered Kalehe territory on January 19, taking control of the mining town of Lumbishi, located 170 kilometers from Bukavu.

Two days later, the rebel group seized Minova, a commercial hub linking South Kivu province to Goma.