UN force in Congo warns of rebel build-up

The U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo said Tuesday it has mounting evidence of a build-up by rebels along key roads in the volatile east.

Laurent Nkunda's National Council for the Defense of the People, or CNDP, has brought Congo to the brink of war and said Monday it will walk away from peace talks if negotiators fail to address cease-fire violations allegedly committed by the Congolese army.

The U.N. peackeeping force in Congo, known as MONUC, released a statement Tuesday at U.N. headquarters saying that as a result of the mounting evidence of the CNDP build-up, peacekeeping bases in Masisi territory have been placed on high alert.

The Masisi area is northwest of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, where Nkunda launched an offensive in late August. He declared a cease-fire on Oct. 29 as his forces reached the edge of Goma.

U.N. peacekeepers are now conducting additional patrols in strategic areas of the region, MONUC said.

MONUC said it is also concerned about a reported clash Tuesday between the CNDP and ethnic Mai Mai forces, who are normally allied with the government.

The U.N. peacekeeping force called on all armed groups to halt the build-up and movement of troops likely to inflame the situation and cause new displacement of civilians.

The conflict in eastern Congo is fueled by festering ethnic hatred left over from the 1994 slaughter of a half-million Tutsis in Rwanda, and Congo's 1996-2002 civil wars, which drew neighboring countries in a rush to plunder Congo's mineral wealth.

Nkunda gained control of a large swath of North Kivu during his latest offensive which drove over 250,000 people from their homes. Many Congolese soldiers fled the advancing rebels, and U.N. peacekeepers were unable to protect civilians from being killed or raped.

The rebels and representatives of the Congolese government have been meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, to try to broker a solution to the latest outbreak of fighting. The first round of talks ended last weekend, and discussions are due to resume in Nairobi on Jan. 7.

The two sides agreed that a buffer zone would be created between rebel-held and government-held areas, controlled by U.N. peacekeepers. But the rebels accuse government troops of occupying territory the rebels have recently vacated.

CNDP spokesman Bertrand Bisimwa said Monday the group will not attend the talks unless the negotiators witness the reality on the ground.

"Government forces have occupied Kibati and Kiwandja _ areas we recently pulled back from," said Bisimwa. "They are 100 meters (330 feet) from our position and they are provoking us by opening fire on our position each morning. Up to now, we have abstained and not returned fire because we are trying to respect the cease-fire."

Human rights groups hold the CNDP responsible for a recent massacre at Kiwandja, where as many as 150 people were killed. But rights groups have also documented abuses by government forces, including systematic rape.