(Reuters) – Representatives of Congo’s powerful Catholic church met on Wednesday with a rebel leader whose Rwandan-backed M23 forces last month seized the biggest city in the country’s east, Goma, in a move that could rankle the Kinshasa-based government.
The meeting in Goma comes as the rebel leader, Corneille Nangaa, tries to assert himself as the public face of politicians and rebel groups opposing Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi.
His Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), which sees M23 as their military wing, has controlled Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, since late January and on Tuesday threatened to renew its advance on the capital of South Kivu province, Bukavu.
Details of Wednesday’s meeting, which started in the morning, were not immediately available in the afternoon.
A church official who did not wish to be identified said over the weekend that the aim was to collect the opinion of different parties and confront them to reach a format for dialogue acceptable to all.
Tshisekedi’s office said on X on Wednesday that the president had met various religious leaders and was open to the Catholic church’s outreach, provided it was “inclusive”.
M23’s stop-start advance and the possibility of a battle for Bukavu have stoked fears of a broader conflict with armies from regional countries pitted against each other, as seen in previous wars between 1996 and 2003.
On Wednesday, there were clashes around the town of Ihusi, west of Lake Kivu between Goma and Bukavu, an M23 source and a military source said.
Bukavu and the strategic town of Kavumu, 35 km to the north, where the airport is located, remain under the control of Congo’s army, which has the support of pro-government militia and troops from neighbouring Burundi.
Witnesses, military and diplomatic sources said this week that M23 and Rwandan troops had been gathering at the border with South Kivu.
Rwanda has been accused by Congo, the United Nations, and several Western countries of supporting the rebels with thousands of its own troops and weapons. Rwanda has neither confirmed nor denied that its troops are operating across the border but says it acting in self-defense.
The resurgence of the conflict in eastern Congo has killed thousands of people since early 2022 and displaced more than 1 million.
Tentative calm has returned to Goma, the U.N. said on Tuesday, as daily life gradually resumed and thousands of uprooted civilians left displacement camps around the city.
M23, who have sought to restore order and show they can govern, said on Sunday that camps for displaced people should be vacated within 72 hours. They later clarified that such moves should be voluntary.
(Additional reporting by Sonia Rolley, Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet, Editing by Sofia Christensen)
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