Congo rebel leader vows to keep fighting

updated 1:18 a.m. ET Nov. 8, 2008

TEBERO, Congo - High in the mist-shrouded Mushaki mountains, amid a drenching tropical storm, the rebel leader swept into the crumbling brick farmhouse, his sinewy frame swathed in a red-and-black shawl — dutifully followed by a pet goat called Betty.

Gen. Laurent Nkunda, extolled by supporters as a gift from God, beamed a toothy smile as he shook hands and exuded charm during an interview with The Associated Press.

Nkunda has tried to show the world an image of peace: that he is a responsible, compassionate leader whose only ambition is to bring freedom to his people in the mineral-rich Congo. The rebels are battling Congolese soldiers in a conflict that many fear will spread.

Even as he was giving the interview this week, his fighters an hour's drive away were killing unarmed civilians, looting and burning, according to witnesses and a human rights body. Among those shot in the head: a 25-year-old radio reporter who angered the rebels with his broadcasts.

But there was no way to know that as Nkunda spoke at the mountaintop retreat.

'I have always believed'
The first sound we heard climbing through mud and curtains of rain to Nkunda's camp was a monotonous hum: It was the sound of prayer emanating from a darkened room — a makeshift chapel in one of several brick structures scattered around the jungle.

A drummer started to beat a rhythm, and the congregation of uniformed young men started to sing.

Hours later, when Nkunda finally appeared, he held forth on his religious faith.

"I was born into a Christian family and I have always believed," he said.

Slide show   Crisis in Congo Orphans, civilians struggle through embattled region. more photos

The man blamed for a 10-week offensive that has forced 250,000 people from their homes as his fighters captured great swaths of eastern Congo says he's a born-again Christian and one-time Adventist pastor who'd rather be teaching than soldiering.

He's often seen wearing a lapel button reading: "Rebels for Christ."

The conflict in eastern Congo is fueled by festering ethnic hatred left over from the 1994 slaughter of a half-million Tutsis in Rwanda, and Congo's civil wars from 1996-2002, which drew its neighbors into a rush to plunder Congo's mineral wealth.

Nkunda defected from the army in 2004, saying he needed to protect his tiny Tutsi minority from Rwandan Hutu militias. He has since expanded his mission to "liberating" Congo from an allegedly corrupt government.

New clashes between army and rebels erupted Friday just outside Goma near Kibati, where about 45,000 refugees have taken refuge. Thousands fled toward the relative safety of Goma.

Nkunda called a unilateral cease-fire last week when his forces reached the outskirts of Goma, but the truce has crumbled.

'We will continue fighting'
On Thursday, Nkunda appeared in crisp U.S. digital camouflage and a bush hat, with an expensive hardwood cane topped in silver.

"We will continue fighting and we will fight all the way to (the capital) Kinshasa," he vowed.

Nkunda, 41, speaks elegant French, the language of Congo's Belgian colonizers, as well as at least three other African languages, and he has no hesitation expounding his views in English.

He is a self-described anthropologist and philosopher who says he wants to change the mentality of Congo's people, which he ways has been polluted by centuries of exploitation and corruption.

"There's a problem here. Everyone is for themselves. We have to learn ... to want to serve our country. There is this lack of love of our country."

Asked how that could be reconciled with the great suffering his latest offensive has brought upon tens of thousands of refugees sleeping in the open or in unsanitary camps, threatened by hunger and disease, he said: "You have to suffer to be free. That is the price of freedom."

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