03 09 13 AFP: M23 rebels in DR Congo 'must disarm': UN envoy

"The
M23 must cease violence, must disarm as the UN Security Council demanded,"
Robinson said after meeting local officials and residents.

Congolese
troops, backed by the UN's MONUSCO mission in the country, launched a fresh
assault on the rebels in the turbulent North-Kivu province after an upsurge in
fighting since August 22 which has left 13 dead, according to authorities.

The
offensive has seen rebels retreat from positions which they had held around
Goma since December, with the frontline now around 30 kilometres (20 miles) away from the
city, a key mining hub.

Robinson,
the former president of Ireland,
pushed for a political solution to the conflict, saying in French that there
was "a window of political opportunities at the moment".

Peace
talks between the rebels and the government, held in the Ugandan capital Kampala, have been
virtually deadlocked since they started at the end of 2012.

Earlier
on Monday, Robinson met the governor of North-Kivu province, Julien Paluku, and
spoke with residents affected by the recent unrest.

"What
happened here in Goma is terrible. I'm glad that calm has returned," Robinson
said after her arrival, which coincided with a lull in fighting, according to
an AFP photographer near the frontline.

"I
have come for the people of Goma, the women, the children. That is what is
important," Robinson said.

Her tour
also took in a visit to injured Congolese soldiers in Goma's hospital.

The
military offensive came amid fresh accusations from UN experts that Rwanda, which
borders DR Congo, is financing the M23, a predominantly ethnic-Tutsi force that
deserted from the Congolese army last year to turn its guns on its comrades.

Kigali has always rejected the claim.

Robinson
said she would have "no problem" in involving Kigali in future direct talks.

The two
eastern Kivu provinces, North and South, have been severely unstable since two wars
wracked the vast country between 1996 and 2003, drawing in armies from
neighbouring and southern African countries, who fought in part over access to
vast mineral wealth.

The M23
rebels have emerged as one of the most formidable forces operating in the DR
Congo's east. They accuse the Kinshasa
government of reneging on a 2009 peace pact and a deal to hold direct talks,
and have threatened to attack Goma again.