Opposition rejects Kabila's armed rebellion

The DRC’s opposition on Tuesday distanced itself from ex-President Joseph Kabila, who has taken the helm of a rebellion in the country's east, reports TRT Afrika. The country's main opposition coalition condemned ‘any seizure of power by force’, a clearly stated goal of Kabila's new alliance, the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN). The C64 coalition brings together five opposition leaders including former presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi. The coalition said there was no military solution to the conflict and called for talks involving all parties, in a statement issued after a two-day meeting in Rome, Italy. President Felix Tshisekedi announced a national dialogue in August but excluded armed groups from the process. C64 said it would seek a meeting with both Tshisekedi and Kabila to help secure agreement on an inclusive dialogue. Meanwhile, Tshisekedi has accused Kabila of being a Rwandan stooge, reports africanews. Rwanda's President Paul Kagame ‘asked his proxy, who had been lurking in the shadows, to come out and take the reins of this offensive’, Tshisekedi told lawmakers in a speech broadcast on X by the Congolese presidency on Tuesday. The FRN is to be headed by Kabila with M23 leaders serving as deputies. ‘It is quite simply because they were at a loss for solutions that they had to push my predecessor into the thick of it.’ Kabila was condemned to death in absentia a year ago for ‘complicity’ with the M23.