French minister visiting Congo and Rwanda to try to end crisis

By Ange Kasongo and John Irish

KINSHASA/PARIS (Reuters) -France's foreign minister was due in Rwanda on Thursday after talks in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of efforts to prevent a regional escalation following the capture of the eastern Congolese city of Goma by M23 rebels and Rwandan troops.

France, taking the lead on the crisis for the U.N. Security Council, has tried to play a discreet role since the rebellion marched into Goma and continued their offensive southwards in the biggest escalation since 2012 of a decades-old conflict.

However, Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said on Thursday that Jean-Noel Barrot was undertaking the mission after President Emmanuel Macron spoke to his Congolese and Rwandan counterparts, Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame.

He earlier met Tshisekedi and was due to meet Kagame in the coming hours.

"The aim is to reach a diplomatic solution to this conflict, which must end immediately," Lemoine told reporters.

Rioters stormed foreign embassies including the French mission in Congo's capital Kinshasa on Tuesday, with protesters accusing France of foreign interference.

Paris has improved relations with Rwanda in recent years after decades of animosity and has interests related to Rwanda, including over Kigali's role in helping stabilise Mozambique, where French energy company Total has a large gas project.

But ahead of the visit, France condemned Rwanda's role in the escalation.

"The M23 must immediately withdraw from the territories it has taken control of. Rwandan forces must urgently leave the territory of the DRC. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC are not negotiable," Lemoine said.

Rwanda says it is defending itself, accusing Congo's military of joining forces with ethnic Hutu-led militias bent on slaughtering Tutsis in Congo and threatening Rwanda, where Hutus targeted Tutsis in a 1994 genocide and some later fled to Congo.

Congo denies this and accuses Rwanda of using M23 to pillage valuable minerals from Congolese territory.

(Reporting by Ange Kasongo and John Irish; Writing by John Irish and Hereward Holland; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Kim Coghill and Alison Williams)