MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have consolidated their hold on Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC. Once again, the region is on the edge of full-blown regional conflict, as Kate Bartlett reports.
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KATE BARTLETT, BYLINE: The Serena Hotel, Goma's five-star establishment, sits on picturesque Lake Kivu and is a favorite haunt of foreign correspondents, U.N. workers and mercenaries alike. On Thursday, it hosted another group - the Rwandan-backed M23 militia that are now in control of the city held their first press conference.
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CORNEILLE NANGAA: (Speaking French).
BARTLETT: "We are in Goma to stay," Corneille Nangaa, one of the group's leaders, declared. He added that the M23 would, quote, "continue the march of liberation to Kinshasa," the Congolese capital. The militia group is already advancing rapidly towards another provincial capital - Bukavu.
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PRESIDENT FELIX TSHISEKEDI: (Speaking French).
BARTLETT: In an address to the nation last night, Congo's president, Felix Tshisekedi, vowed his army will prevail. Be sure of one thing, he said. We will fight, and we will triumph. The president stopped short of declaring war on Rwanda, a small neighboring country with outsize clout in the international community.
This conflict has its roots in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in which nearly 1 million mainly Tutsis were killed by Hutu extremists. Tutsi rebels, led by current Rwandan President Paul Kagame, put an end to the killing, and many Hutu perpetrators fled across the border to Congo.
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PRESIDENT PAUL KAGAME: Is there anybody among us who did not see this coming? I, for one - I saw it coming.
BARTLETT: Kagame has never acknowledged Rwanda's role in the recent conflict, but many others, including the U.N. and U.S., say it is involved. While Kagame claims he's protecting Rwanda, Congo's government says Rwanda aims to pillage its vast mineral wealth. DRC is rich in cobalt and other critical minerals essential for the production of smartphones and other devices. As the M23 advances, the politicians squabble and the international community issues calls for calm, it's the Congolese people who suffer, as they have been for decades.
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BARTLETT: Goma was already home to almost 1 million displaced people. Now, many of them are fleeing war once again.
For NPR News, I'm Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg.
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