Fighting thwarts aid efforts in Congo

Aid agency efforts to help thousands of people displaced by fighting in eastern Congo mostly failed on Saturday, despite an appeal by African leaders for a ceasefire.

Rebel chief Laurent Nkunda welcomed a call for a ceasefire and humanitarian corridor. The UN force urged rebel and pro-government militias to leave the North Kivu town of Rutshuru, north of Goma, after a spate of killings by both sides.

But aid workers in North Kivu province were cautious as fighting between Tutsi rebels and pro-government forces continued, despite a unilateral ceasefire Nkunda declared last week.

"We urgently need to get into these places and deliver assistance," the UN World Food Program's Marcus Prior said.

Sporadic bursts of gunfire were heard early Saturday near Kibati, 12 kilometres north of Goma, where more serious fighting between Nkunda's rebels and Congo's army halted food distribution and vaccinations by UN agencies on Friday.

Nkunda's revolt against Congo's government, which he says sides with local militias and Rwandan Hutu rebels against his minority Tutsi community, has displaced more than one million in North Kivu in two years, and an estimated 250,000 since September alone.

The 17,000-strong UN peacekeeping force has been unable to stem the latest bout of bloodletting.

Nkunda warned regional peacemaking forces to stick to humanitarian operations or they would be treated as the enemy.

"If they come to really support the [humanitarian] corridor, I have no problem," he said. "If they come for political reasons, it is not for peace. We will treat them like [the UN force]. They will be on the side of the government.