Congo rebels have looted the central bank in Goma after refusing to withdraw from the city they captured last week.

M23 fighters surrounded the bank early this afternoon, and were seen loading white bags into cars. The rebel soldiers looked nervous and ordered the Guardian to leave the area.

“They’re looting the bank,” a UN source said.

Earlier on Tuesday the rebel leader Bishop Jean-Marie Runiga said M23 would refuse to obey a call by regional leaders of the International Conference of the Great Lakes to leave the capital of North Kivu province to pave the way for peace talks.

A withdrawal would be the result, not a precondition, of negotiation, Runiga said.

“I demand the following of [the Congolese president] Joseph Kabila, if M23 is to withdraw [from Goma],” he said at a press conference in Goma, before outlining a series of conditions. Notably, he demanded freedom for the opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi and other political prisoners, the dissolution of the electoral commission, and an investigation into the attempted murder of Dr Denis Mukwege.

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