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Congo rebels quit talks after Uganda captures town

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Congo's largest rebel group said on Thursday it would suspend its participation in peace talks in South Africa after Ugandan forces captured a town in northeastern Congo.
The Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD-Goma) Minister for Foreign Affairs Joseph Mudumbi said Ugandan troops had taken over the town of Bunia after fierce fighting with the small rebel group Union des Patriots Congolais (UPC) which was controlling much of Bunia.

Mudumbi said his rebel group which cooperates with the UPC had decided to pull out of Congolese peace talks in Pretoria to protest at the move by Uganda.

"We have suspended ongoing negotiations in Pretoria until Uganda troops withdraw from our country," he told Reuters in Kigali.

The spokesman for the new RCD-Kisangani rebel group Faustin Ndekesiri, another rebel faction, confirmed the report, saying the Ugandan army had overrun Bunia and forced UPC leader Thomas Lubanga to flee the town.