Â鶹Éç

Available for over a year

A spokesperson for the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo has denied that the group has the backing or support of Rwanda. The M23 rebels, one of the main fighting groups in the eastern DRC, has taken swathes of territory in Rutshuru and Nyiragongo in recent months. Regional efforts to negotiate an end to the instability have been choppy - not least because the M23 were not part of just-concluded talks aimed at bringing about a ceasefire. The M23 is named after a peace agreement which joined rebel forces into the armed forces of the DRC in 2009. That deal fell apart in 2012 and the M23 took root in the east, battling the government and an international force. But the M23 is the direct heir to successive rebel movements with roots in two seismic events - the genocide in Rwanda and the fall of Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997. All this is part of the complex and highly lucrative war over the vast natural wealth of mineral-rich eastern DRC. Lawrence Kanyuka is a spokesperson for the M23 rebels. He dismisses claims that the group has been responsible for violence and atrocities against civilians, and he denies that they are a proxy for Rwanda, as the DRC government alleges. Photo: M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: Getty Images.