By Chinedu Asadu and Justin Kabumba
Rwanda-backed rebels who captured eastern Congo’s largest city said Thursday they want to take their fight to the far-off capital, Kinshasa, hours after Congo’s president called for a massive military mobilization to resist the rebellion.
The M23 rebels also said they would be open to dialogue with the Congolese government at a briefing Thursday as they sought to assert their control over the eastern city of Goma and surrounding territory. They asked residents to go about their daily life while the rebels work on facilitating much-needed humanitarian assistance.
“We want to go to Kinshasa, take power and lead the country,” Corneille Nangaa, one of the political leaders of M23, said during the briefing. He did not indicate how the rebels planned to advance on the capital, more than 1,500 kilometers (nearly 1,000 miles) away.
The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N.
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