Congo rebel leader vows to keep fighting

Accusations of war crimes
During his four-year rebellion, Nkunda has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Human rights groups for years have asked why Congo's government and U.N. peacekeepers do not arrest him.

Speaking to the AP on Thursday, Nkunda dismissed the allegations: "The International Court conducted investigations and did not and has never found proof against Laurent Nkunda. It's normal for the Congo government to accuse its opponents."

The list of charges cited by Human Rights Watch included a June 3, 2004, case in the eastern Congo town of Bukavu when "Nkunda's soldiers gang-raped a mother in front of her husband and children while another soldier raped her 3-year-old daughter." Amnesty International says his troops have abducted and conscripted children as young as 12.

On Thursday, Human Rights Watch and villagers in the eastern Congo town of Kiwanja accused Nkunda's rebels of killing dozens of men in civilian clothes who were suspected of supporting Mai Mai militia against the rebels.

The director of a radio station also said Nkunda's men tracked down one of his reporters, 25-year-old Alfred Ndjondjo Victwahiki Munyamariza, and shot him in the head in his garden in front of his wife and toddler daughter.

'I'm not in this for the money'
Nkunda has been accused of exploiting Congo's mineral resources, but he denies those allegations and says he's not fighting for money. He said he turned down a government offer of $2.5 million last year in return for going into exile in South Africa.

Video   The face of fear in Congo Nov. 7: Fighting in the hills surrounding Goma has caused fear to spread among refugees sheltering nearby. ITN's Jonathan Miller reports on the drama that unfolded in Kibati camp when a cease-fire broke down. Nightly News

He added: "$50 million wouldn't be enough, I'm not in this for the money. There's the question of the people's destiny. The future of the people of a country ... you can't buy that."

But experts dismiss as fantasy his ambitions of marching on Kinshasa and deposing Congolese President Joseph Kabila — the nation's first freely elected leader in nearly half a century.

Francois Grignon, director of the Africa program of the Nairobi, Kenya-based International Crisis Group, said no Congolese insurgency in the past 10 years has marched to Kinshasa without being helped by the Rwandan or Ugandan army.

"He has what, 4,000 men? It's totally ridiculous," Grignon said.

The United Nations believes Nkunda has 6,500 men; he says he has 10,000.

Mon General
As we waited for Nkunda to arrive on our first evening at the camp, we were led to a "boma," an open sided hut topped by woven banana leaves where rebel officers — some in camouflage, others in track suits and flip flops — offered chunks of local cheese and hot milk.

There were no guns in sight and the air was filled with the chirping of birds hidden in lush vegetation. At first, our hosts were formal and stiff. But as the hours passed, while we waited for the man the rebels called "Mon General," they loosened up.

A man in civilian clothes came in with a few smoldering branches and started a fire on a pile of logs. Soon it was roaring. The rebels pulled their chairs in front of the fire and opened up a circle so we too could share the warmth.

There was one piece of reading material being passed around among the rebels: a battered and dog-eared copy of the penal code of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

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