DR Congo,Rwanda,Uganda leaders urge M23 rebels to pull out of Goma

 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila, Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday urged the M23 rebels to pull out of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu in eastern DRC. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni who is the chair of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region told reporters here at the end of their two-day meeting here that a detailed pull out plan would be given to the rebels.
"The rebels should get out of the town in a plan which we shall give them, there will be a force to observe that nobody violates the ceasefire," he said.
He said a safe passage would be given to the rebels and efforts would be made to ensure that they are not attacked during the pull out.
In the joint communique, the leaders said that although the M23 have legitimate concerns, they must stop their expansionism.
"Even if there were legitimate grievances by the mutinying group known as the M23, they cannot accept the expansion of this war or entertain the idea of overthrowing the legitimate government of the DRC or undermining its authority," the communique said.
Museveni said that after the M23 pulls out Goma, the DRC government will show the region how it plans to address the problem of negative forces in the eastern part of the country.
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Meanwhile an envoy of President Joseph Kabila of DR Congo (DRC) on Wednesday met with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos to seek help from Luanda over the armed conflict between the DRC government troops and M23 rebels.
Antoine Ghonda, the envoy, told reporters that his meeting with the Angolan leader focused on the latest developments in DR Congo, particularly in the eastern region, which he said "very difficult" as the North Kivu town of Goma of his country was under control of the rebels.
He said President Joseph Kabila sought to obtain advice from his Angolan counterpart Jose Eduardo dos Santos to end the current crisis and to find out a permanent solution as Angola had the same experience but implemented a successful reconciliation process.
Antoine Ghonda stressed his country was open to direct dialogue with the leaders of those countries, while in Luanda he was seeking support for a political solution.
He said he believed President Jose Eduardo had a great vision and his advice will be helpful to bring peace and stability in the DRC and Central Africa.-Xinhua