Rebels not attending Kinshasa talks

Congolese rebels have turned down an invitation to attend national reconciliation talks in the capital Kinshasa. "My movement is not going to identify with any inter-Congolese talks outside Lusaka [peace accord]," Jean-Pierre Bemba of the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) told IRIN on Tuesday. "Former Botswanan president [Ketumile] Masire is the only person who can invite us to any talks." Moise Nyarugabo, vice-president of RCD-Goma, told the Rwanda News Agency that the Kinshasa talks, organised by church groups, were an attempt by Kabila to undermine the Lusaka peace agreement, and his group was not attending either. Bishop Marini Bodho, one of the organisers of the talks, said Monday's planned opening ceremony had been put back to allow rebel representatives to arrive, Reuters reported.