GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Congo's government will not negotiate with M23 rebels in the east of the Central African country until the rebels pull out of the city of Goma, a government spokesman said on Sunday.
Lambert Mende said President Joseph Kabila had met M23 representatives in Uganda for the first time on Saturday and had reiterated his readiness to consider their demands.
"Negotiations will start after the (M23) withdrawal from Goma. Even if we want to negotiate, this can't be before 48 hours," Mende said, referring to a deadline given to the rebels on Saturday.
A spokesman for M23 also said Kabila had met Jean-Marie Runiga, the rebels' political chief, after a meeting in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Saturday on the Congo crisis attended by Kabila and the heads of state of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
The regional leaders called on the rebels to abandon their aim of toppling the government and leave Goma, which they captured this week.
The leaders' plan proposed deploying a joint force at Goma airport comprising of a company of neutral African troops, a company of the Congolese army (FARDC) and a company of the M23.
M23 was also required to withdraw to positions not less than 20 km (12 miles) from Goma within two days, but did not say what the consequences would be if the rebels did not comply.
Regional and international leaders are trying to halt the latest bout of violence in eastern Congo, where fighting is fuelled by a mix of local and regional politics, ethnic rifts and competition for large reserves of gold, tin and coltan.
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