Goma - Talks to secure peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo's conflict-torn eastern regions opened on Sunday amid warnings by the Catholic Church against a "Balkanisation" of the vast African country.
"Territorial integrity, the inviolability of borders and national unity of the Democratic Republic of Congo are not negotiable," the Roman Catholic Conference of Bishops wrote in a statement echoed earlier by other religious leaders.
It warned against what it called the "balkanisation" of the country violence, by the creation of mini-states. The country has remained politically fragile following its 1998-2003 civil war.
Government ministers, lawmakers, international officials and representatives of various armed groups in the eastern Nord- and Sud-Kivu regions bordering Burundi and Rwanda were among the 600 delegates gathered for the meeting.
Called by President Joseph Kabila, the nine days of talks are taking place at a regional university in Goma, the provincial capital of Nord-Kivu.
But several key players, including the bishops and Kabila himself, have warned that the meeting should not be used to change the country's political and geographical status quo.
In opening remarks, Interior Minister Denis Kalume called on all renegade Congolese armed groups to "lay down their weapons and either opt to integrate into the (government's) armed forces or for the disarmament, demobilisation and reinsertion program."
But the meeting suffered an early blow when representatives from Congolese civil society announced they were suspending participation. They said the organising committee had failed to respect an agreement to include two civil society members in its ranks.
"We're giving the conference 48 hours to resolve the question," said Goma Kibiswa Kwabene Naupess, head of the civil society's executive secretariat.
The eastern region has been torn apart by a tangled conflict that pits rebels led by renegade former general Laurent Nkunda against government forces, but which is complicated by the presence of other various militia groups.
In his opening address, Kalume called for foreign militia to join a voluntary disarmament programme that would lead to their repatriation "under the protection of the international community".
Fierce fighting between the army and Nkunda loyalists in particular has gripped Nord-Kivu since August 2007, displacing 800 000 people according to the United Nations.
But Saturday, the government officially announced the suspension of all military operations against Nkunda rebels in order to lay the groundwork for the talks.
"The time for peace has rung," said organising committee head, Apollinaire Malu Malu.
But Malu Malu also said the talks were not the venue to "change the constitutional order".
Meanwhile, Nkunda spokesperson Seraphin Mirinid told reporters the peace talks would only succeed if their demands are taken into account.
Nkunda, who was invited to the peace talks, is a Congolese Tutsi who presents himself as the defender of his community.
He has called for Rwandan Hutu rebels, some of whom are accused of participating in that country's 1994 genocide, to be driven from DR Congo - and for the return of around 46 000 Tutsi refugees forced into exile by violence.
Ahead of the conference, President Kabila ruled out the possibility of power-sharing among warring factions.
The talks will examine the presence of both local and foreign militias in the region; border controls and patrols; illegal trafficking in minerals; and the proliferation of arms in Nord- and Sud-Kivu. - Sapa-AFP