Nkunda threatens to push toward Congolese capital

Rebel forces willpush toward the Congolese capital of Kinshasa if the governmentcontinues to reject direct negotiations, says renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda.

"If they refuse to negotiate, it will mean they will be ready to only fight and we will fight them because we have to fight for our freedom," Nkunda said Tuesday from his headquarters in the province of North Kivu in eastern Congo.

Government spokesman Lambert Mende said PresidentJoseph Kabila's administration was "open for dialogue" with all rebel and militia groups in the region but would not solely meet with Nkunda's group.

Nkunda, a former army general who commands a 4,000-strong guerrilla army, says he is fighting to liberate all of Congo from a corrupt government.

Hedeclared a unilateral ceasefire last Wednesday after his rebels had almost reached the edge of the provincial capital of Goma during the latest offensive.

Food, supplies moved in

The ceasefire allowed the United Nations to begin moving aid workers and medical supplies into the areas around Rutshuru, which had been captured by the rebels, on Monday.

Convoys carrying water and high-energy biscuits began to arrive on Tuesday as humanitarian organizations attempted to aid the estimated 250,000 refugees who had been displaced by the latest fighting, which began on Aug. 28.

Nkunda has said he wants to talk to the Congolese government and its president with a neutral mediator to negotiate an end to fighting and to discuss economic and security issues.

"To become head of state is not my ambition,"Nkunda said.

But Kabila has not accepted the proposition and has accused neighbouring Rwanda of backing the rebels.

Nkunda launched a low-level rebellion three years ago, claiming Congo's transition to democracy had excluded the Tutsi ethnic group and the government has not protectedthem from the Rwandan Hutu militia that escaped to Congo after the 1994 genocide.

If negotiations are not agreed to soon, the ceasefire in North Kivu will end andthe next offensive will push toward Kinshasa, 1,500 kilometres to the west, Nkunda said.

Conflict may expand

"Goma is just a place to pass through.... When they force us to come down to Goma we won't stop there. People must be serious, otherwise there's no turning back," he said.

The rebels have alreadyclashed with a local militia group in eastern Congo near Rutshuru on Tuesday, according toUnited Nations officials.

Rebel spokesman Bertrand Bisimwa alleged Tuesday that Angola and Zimbabwe were mobilizing troops to back government forces against the rebels.

Zimbabwe has denied the allegations while Angola, a longtime ally of Congo's government, has not yet commented.

If the mobilizations are true, Bisimwa said the groundwork would be laid "for a generalized war in the region" possibly repeating Congo's 1998-2002 war that drew in armies from a half-dozen African nations.

"We will fight because we are obliged to defend ourselves," Bisimwa said.

Summits planned

During the latest offensive, Nkunda demanded additional security for ethnic Tutsis in the Congo and expressed concerned about a $9-billion US deal with China that would give the Asian power access to the Congo's vast mineral reserves.

Leaders of Congo and Rwanda agreed on Monday to meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to try to resolve the conflict, which is fuelled by festering ethnic hatred left over from Rwanda's 1994 genocide and Congo's civil wars from 1996 to 2002.

The African Union is also expected to convene an urgent regional summit in November.

Nkunda said he supported the talks with Rwanda but that it would not resolve the issues in Congo.

"There is an internal problem, which has to have an internal solution," he said.