GOMA/RUTSHURU (DR Congo), Nov 3: Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday declared a curfew in the key eastern city of Goma, which is threatened by rebels camped on the outskirts.

The curfew, which will come into effect from 11:00 pm (2100 GMT) to 5:00 am (0300 GMT), follows a spate of murders, rapes and lootings last week blamed on out-of-control elements of the government army.

“I confirm the establishment of a curfew throughout the city of Goma to better control the morning and night-time movements of the population,” said Julien Paluku, governor of the eastern Nord Kivu province.

Rebels led by renegade general Laurent Nkunda took several key areas in the country’s east before arriving at the threshold of Goma and declaring a ceasefire last week.

The city appeared to operate relatively normally on Monday, with stores open, in stark contrast to late last week, when few people remained on the streets.

Shops, schools and offices had been closed as residents feared out-of-control remnants of the Congolese army.

Rebel chief’s threat: Democratic Republic of Congo rebel chief Laurent Nkunda has threatened to drive the government from power unless it holds direct talks on his demands.

But the government of President Joseph Kabila moved quickly on Monday to reject the demand of the renegade general whose forces have beaten the army out of several towns in the east of the Central African country, extending a decade of conflict which has seen more than three million people killed.

Dressed in green beret, military fatigues and dark sunglasses, Nkunda accused the international community of failing ethnic Tutsis in a meeting with reporters at his jungle base on Sunday.

UN convoy arrives: A UN convoy brought desperately needed humanitarian assistance to this rebel-held town on Monday as aid agencies began tracking down more than a million people trapped by fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

It was the first time aid agencies had been able to reach Rutshuru since the UN last week said that 50,000 people had gone missing after “credible reports” that rebels had looted and burned camps around the town.

Escorted by around 50 UN peacekeepers, the convoy of about a dozen vehicles arrived without incident after making a 75-kilometre journey through rebel-held territory from Goma, the capital of Nord-Kivu province.—AFP