Leaders of DRCongo, Rwanda hold crisis talks at UN

President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, renewed charges in talks Thursday with Rwandan leader Paul Kagame that Rwanda is stoking violence in his country by aiding rebels. In the landmark talks, the two leaders met behind closed doors in a bid to defuse tensions between the two African nations amid a growing crisis in eastern DR Congo, where rebels have carried out a wave of rapes and killings. But a source close to the talks said the two men, who earlier this week were urged to hold talks when they met together with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, stuck by their positions. Kabila renewed his claims that his country was "a victim" of outside interference, while Kagame said Rwanda should not be made a "scapegoat" for the violence in the country," the source said. The meeting was held under the auspices of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss ways of ending the violence in eastern DR Congo, already ravaged by years of war and humanitarian crises. Clinton met Monday with Kagame and Kabila and "emphasized the need for honest and sustained dialogue between both countries in pursuit of a political resolution," a US State Department official said. Nearly half a million civilians have been displaced by the current conflict and there is growing pressure for progress to be made at a UN summit on the crisis to be held here on Thursday. Experts of the UN Security Council's sanctions committee allege that Rwanda is supporting M23 rebels, who launched an uprising in eastern DR Congo in April. Rwanda, however, has denied the charge and in turn accuses Kinshasa of backing a group of Hutu rebels who also operate in eastern DR Congo. The M23 is led by Bosco Ntaganda, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, and was formed by former fighters in an ethnic Tutsi rebel group that was integrated into the Congolese military in a 2009 peace deal. Ban told the talks he was worried about the violence. "I am very concerned about the regular allegations about outside support for the M23 rebellion. I call on all those to end this support," he told the meeting, without pointing the finger at any one nation. "The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of Congo cannot be violated and must be respected by all its neighbors," he said. Ban added he was "also deeply concerned by the reports of human rights abuses carried out by the M23." "We need a political solution," he added, stressing Thursday's meeting was a "real step in the right direction towards solving this crisis." Last week, US lawmakers heard a powerful plea to stop a brutal wave of rapes and killings by rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo amid claims six million people have died in years of war. "Congress, in your hands you have the salvation of all Congolese people," Ntambo Nkulu Ntanda, bishop of the United Methodist Church of North Katanga, told a House of Representatives subcommittee. "We came to seek your assistance because we know who you are. You have power... You have all the means to stop the war in Congo." the t