The Rwandan-backed and Goma-based faction of the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) on Monday denied government claims that rebels were making "intensive preparations" for an attack on the diamond-rich town of Mbuji-Mayi in Kasai Orientale by massing troops and military equipment at Kole and Lodja, but it said the situation was very tense. "There are no troops being massed, there are just troops sitting there, deployed on the defensive ... We are not planning any offensive", Reuters quoted rebel spokesman Lambert Mende as saying. Both sides in the conflict have accused the other of violating the Lusaka ceasefire agreement.
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