Congo rebel leader says sanctions, any minerals deal with US won’t stop fighting in the east

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) - The leader of the rebels who captured two key cities in eastern Congo says international sanctions and the planned minerals deal that the country has offered the U.S. will not stop the fighting between their members and Congolese forces in the hard-hit region.

With such sanctions and a bounty placed on the rebel leaders by Congo's government, "we will fight like people who got nothing to lose in order to secure the future of our country," Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance (AFC) that includes the M23 rebel group, told The Associated Press.

Nangaa also dismissed Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi's comments last week that his country is looking for a minerals partnership with the U.S. that will bring peace and stability for both countries.

Since launching a major escalation of their decadelong fighting with the Congolese forces in late January, the M23 rebels have captured the cities of Goma and Bukavu and several towns in eastern Congo, forcing thousands of soldiers to either flee or surrender and prompting fears of regional warfare involving neighbors whose militaries are also on the ground.

Most of Congo's mineral resources, estimated to be worth $24 trillion and critical to much of the world’s technology, remain untapped, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce last year.

The U.S. government has not publicly spoken about any minerals deal being planned with Congo, which local observers say could be similar to the Trump administration’s offer for Ukraine to help end the war with Russia.

"This problem can be better resolved by the concerned Congolese, not foreigners with different geopolitical agendas," Nangaa told The AP over the weekend. "Trying to bribe U.S. with mines can undermine U.S. credibility."

Efforts to achieve a ceasefire collapsed last week after the rebels pulled out from talks being facilitated by Angola, condemning European Union sanctions on its leaders.

Nangaa also rejected the outcome of a meeting between Congolese and Rwandan leaders in Qatar, saying such a move to achieve peace without the group's involvement would fail and that the rebels can only have a dialogue with Congo's government if the country acknowledges their grievances and the root causes of the conflict.

"Anything regarding us which are done without us, it's against us," Nangaa said.

Despite calls for a ceasefire, M23 rebels have now seized the key town of Walikale that gives them control of a strategic road linking four provinces in eastern Congo - North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo and Maniema - effectively cutting off Congolese army positions.

In seizing more territories beyond Goma - the only city they captured during their short-lived uprising in 2012- the rebels aim to "secure" citizens in those places and fight the root causes of the conflict, the rebel leader said.

The most potent of about 100 armed factions vying for control in eastern Congo, M23 is mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who failed to integrate into the Congolese army. The group says it is defending ethnic Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination.

Although U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces supporting the rebels in Congo, Nangaa said the rebel alliance is independent and seeks to address “the root cause of more than 30 years of instability in our country."