DR. Congo rebels begin Goma pullout

Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have begun pulling out of the strategic eastern city of Goma, residents told local officials Wednesday, following a diplomatic push to prevent the conflict spreading across the volatile region. The Red Cross reported that it had buried 62 people whose bodies were found in the streets of Goma in the days following its capture by the M23 rebel group, which launched an uprising against the DR Congo government in April. Residents said dozens of trucks carrying food and ammunition had left Goma, the main city in the resource-rich region on the borders of Rwanda and Uganda which has been the flashpoint for past wars in central Africa's largest country. At stake is control of Kivu's vast mineral wealth, which include cobalt, copper, diamonds, gold and coltan, a key component in mobile phones. UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said the process of pulling out had apparently already begun, a week after the rebels easily overran Goma as they swept across the east, heightening fears of a major conflict in the troubled region and a humanitarian crisis. "It seems that the advances have stopped," he said late Tuesday. "If anything there were signs tonight that they were either getting out of Goma or getting ready to do that." But he said the withdrawal could only be confirmed by the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo on Wednesday. In the streets of Goma, life appeared to be returning to normal, AFP correspondents said. Shops were open, taxis were running and while there were a few rebels posted at junctions, their presence has been scaled down considerably. A Western military source has estimated the number of rebels at 1,500 in the North Kivu region of which Goma is the capital. A local official said residents had reported that the trucks were heading towards Rutshuru and Rumangabo, both rebel-held towns north of Goma. M23 military commander Sultani Makenga, who was hit this month by UN and US sanctions over alleged atrocities committed by the rebels, said on Tuesday that the fighters had started moving out provisions, medical supplies and ammunition towards Rutshuru. The rebel moves come after a weekend summit of regional African leaders called on the M23 to pull out of Goma, but also urged the DR Congo government of President Joseph Kabila to address their grievances. The rebellion erupted in April when the M23, largely made up of ethnic Tutsis, broke away from the DR Congo army, complaining that a 2009 peace deal to end a previous conflict had not been fully implemented. On Tuesday, Makenga said his men would quit Goma "in three days at the latest" and would pull back 20 kilometres (12 miles) under a deal struck in Kampala with an east African regional group after the weekend summit. But the group's political leader Jean-Marie Runiga told journalists that they had a list of demands, including direct talks with Kabila, who was re-elected last year in a flawed presidential vote, and the dissolution of the electoral commission. They have also demanded release of opposition standard-bearer Etienne Tshisekedi, a former prime minister who has been under unofficial house arrest since declaring himself the victor of last year's election. -- Bodies found on Goma streets -- On Wednesday, Congo's Red Cross said that its workers had picked up and buried 62 bodies from the streets of Goma in the days following its capture by the rebels. "The bodies were picked up between Wednesday (November 21) and Friday," its president Dominique Lutula told AFP. "They are those of civilians and soldiers, only adults." The M23 rebellion has already displaced tens of thousands of people, their swift advance across the east of the country raising fears of yet another major conflict in the war-blighted region. The UN has issued a damning report accusing both Rwanda, and to a lesser extent Uganda, of backing the rebels. Both countries vehemently deny the allegations. But the scope of the advance suggested that the M23 had outside help. In just a week, the rebels expanded their area of control from one small corner of North Kivu to cover almost the entire province, an area twice the size of Belgium. Rights group and UN officials have accused the rebels of atrocities, including the killings, rapes and abductions of civilians, which forced tens of thousands to flee their homes. The powder-keg region was the cradle of two wars that shook DR Congo between 1996 and 1997, and then again from 1998 to 2003, with Rwanda and Uganda playing active roles.