Congo rebel leader says there’s no stopping them

Abuja: The leader of the rebels who captured two key cities in eastern Congo tells The Associated Press that international sanctions and Congo’s proposed minerals deal with the United States in search of peace will not stop the fighting.

Meanwhile, neighbouring countries announced a broader peace facilitation team to seek a resolution to the conflict.

With a $5 million 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,” said Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance that includes the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group.

Nangaa dismissed Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi’s comments last week that his country — whose mineral resources are estimated to be worth $24 trillion and critical to much of the world’s technology — is looking for a minerals partnership with the US.

The US government has not publicly spoken about any such deal, which local observers say could be similar to the Trump administration’s recent offer to Ukraine to help end the war with Russia. The rebel leader also rejected the outcome of last week’s meeting between Congolese and Rwandan leaders in Qatar, saying such a move to achieve peace without his involvement would fail.