President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has ruled out political conversations with the M23 rebel organisation.
The group has started leaving territories it had taken over as part of a peace agreement that was mediated by an international organisation.
According to the deal, the M23 rebels must demobilise before going back to civilian life, President Félix Tshisekedi said.
The organisation, which is widely believed to have Rwanda’s support, had earlier stated that it anticipated holding talks with the Kinshasa government.
According to reports, the peace process might falter if the president rejects that. About a quarter of a million people have been displaced by the violence over the past 18 months.
The M23 rebellion was an armed conflict in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), that occurred between the March 23 Movement and government forces between 4 April 2012 and 7 November 2013.
It ended when a peace agreement was made among eleven African nations, and the M23 troops surrendered in Uganda. The rebellion was part of continued fighting in the region after the formal end of the Second Congo War in 2003.
In April 2012, former National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) soldiers mutinied against the DRC government and the peacekeeping contingent of the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
