Rebel M23 group defies deadline to leave Goma

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• published: 31 Jul 2015
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1. M23 rebel fighters in town of Kibumba, 30 kilometres (18.5 miles) from Goma 2. M23 fighters moving out after patrol search for members of the FDLR, another rebel group based in DR Congo 3. Wide of local residents 4. Two young men watching M23 fighters move out 5. Convoy of M23 fighters moving out 6. Fighter on back of truck loading magazine into rifle 7. Military vehicle passing 8. Various of M23 fighter holding man suspected of being an FDLR scout 9. Various of M23 fighters counting AK47 rifles collected during day at checkpoint in town of Rumangabo (between city of Goma and northern town of Rutshuru) 10. Woman carrying belongings on her head fleeing fighting in area 11. Wide of family packing belongings and preparing to leave STORYLINE: The Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels defied a deadline imposed by neighbouring nations on Tuesday, saying they would stay in the crucial city of Goma and fight the Congolese army to hold it. A Congolese military spokesman called it "a declaration of war" and said the army would resume combat, although he declined to say when. Highlighting the volatility of the situation, a different rebel group based in DR Congo, known as the FDLR, crossed into neighbouring Rwanda and attacked Rwandan army positions, according to villagers, eyewitnesses and a Rwandan military spokesman. It raised the possibility that DR Congo was directly retaliating against Rwanda, its much-smaller but more affluent neighbour, which has twice gone to war with DR Congo and which is now believed to be directing the M23 rebellion. Meanwhile, fighting erupted about 30 kilometres (18 miles) north of Goma, in Kibumba, near the Rwandan border, at around 5 am (0300 GMT), according to an M23 officer and local residents. Hours later, Associated Press journalists saw rebels believed to be with FDLR, a group that is believed to have received financial support from DR Congo, retreating back into DR Congo from the border. About a hundred M23 fighters were pursuing the fighters from the FDLR, the French acronym for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda. Speaking in Goma on Tuesday, M23 president Jean-Marie Runiga said the rebels would not leave the city of one (m) million which they seized a week ago. The deadline imposed by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region for the rebels to depart was midnight on Monday. Runiga said that the M23 now has a thousand tonnes of arms and ammunition, including heavy artillery, abandoned by the fleeing Congolese army. Six flatbed trucks carrying crates of ammunition were seen on Tuesday being driven by M23 soldiers north of Goma. At the same time, Runiga said the rebels would like to negotiate with the Congolese government. In April, when the rebellion began, the group initially said they wanted to revisit the 23 March 2009 peace accord which paved the way for the fighters to join the Congolese military. The group initially claimed that DR Congo had not held up its end of the bargain, failing to provide the fighters with adequate pay and proper equipment. DR Congo has already said that they are willing to negotiate with M23 on the basis of the 2009 peace accord, but Runiga said on Tuesday that they no longer want to talk about only that. He said that for the armed group to leave Goma, DR Congo is going to have to agree to a new set of conditions. Runiga addressed reporters in the centre of Goma, almost 12 hours after the midnight deadline for their retreat had passed. The M23 was created nearly eight months ago by former rebels who joined, and then defected from the Congolese army. Both the M23 and the FDLR rebel groups have their origins in the scars left by Rwanda's 1994 genocide. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/6ee3365465d4f4bfdb0238bd203c1b29 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork