Former rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo pulled out of a power-sharing government on Monday, dealing a major blow to the peace process in a country emerging from civil war. Azarias Ruberwa, leader of the former rebel group RCD-Goma and one of Congo's four vice-presidents, told a news conference that the peace process had "broken down" but said his group did not want to resume war. "There is a pause, a suspension of the RCD activities within the transition. A reassessment must take place," Ruberwa said in the movement's stronghold of Goma, near the border with Rwanda. "This is what we need to do to stop the transition from dying a slow death," he said. The move is a big setback to a peace process meant to draw a line under the messy five-year conflict and shepherd Africa's third-largest country to elections in under a year. The latest crisis in the divided government was sparked by the massacre of 160 Congolese Tutsi refugees in Burundi, after which RCD-Goma retreated to its eastern turf. The leadership of the Rwandan-backed group is dominated by Tutsi. --MORE 2310 Local Time 2010 GMT
