By Joe Bavier BUKAVU, Congo, Sept 6 (Reuters) - A dissident Congolese general called for African mediation to broker a ceasefire in eastern Congo as fighting between his forces and government troops neared the provincial capital on Thursday. New clashes broke out before dawn around Karuba, a village about 30 km (19 miles) west of Goma, the capital of troubled North Kivu province, after President Joseph Kabila's government rejected talk of negotiations. Thousands of fleeing civilians packed the road towards Goma carrying what possessions they could carry with them, as dissident General Laurent Nkunda's troops neared Sake, just 20 km (12 miles) from the capital, by early afternoon. "There is a massive number of people on the road to Goma, and they are all saying they are fleeing fighting," Aya Shneerson, head of the U.N. World Food Programme in North and South Kivu, told Reuters by telephone from just outside Sake. A Reuters witness saw hundreds of retreating government troops with the fleeing refugees. Military sources with Congo's 17,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission said it was unclear who now held the upper hand in the fighting, after an army offensive drove Nkunda out of several key positions since last week. An army helicopter gunship was damaged on Wednesday during an attack near Nkunda's headquarters some 60 km (38 miles) north of Goma, and it was not clear whether army troops were receiving air support. Self-declared General Bwambale Kakolele, Nkunda's top military commander, said his side was ready for a ceasefire. "We want to negotiate, but the government doesn't ... We want mediation from the international community, from credible countries like South Africa, even Rwanda, Uganda, or Kenya," he told Reuters. "We do not have the intention of moving on Goma. But we may have to." HUNDREDS KILLED U.N. peacekeepers used attack helicopters in November to halt an advance by Nkunda's men on Goma in operations that killed hundreds of rebels. In recent weeks, the mission has given logistical assistance to Congolese forces, shuttling troops and ammunition, but not participated in fighting. Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murgande, visiting the Congolese capital Kinshasa for the first time in three years on Monday, offered to mediate talks with Nkunda but Congo declined. After elections last year meant to draw a line under a 1998-2003 war that killed some 4 million people, Kabila vowed to bring peace to the vast central African nation's troubled east. In January, Rwanda helped broker a ceasefire that brought thousands of Nkunda's fighters into mixed army brigades in what was billed as a step towards ending his three-year insurgency. The deal was a failure and the former renegades soon unleashed a campaign of terror against North Kivu's civilian population, forcing an estimated 224,000 people to flee their homes since the beginning of the year. Last month, Nkunda loyalists abandoned the mixed brigades, and attacked army positions in Katale, 60 km (38 miles) northwest of Goma. Analysts and diplomats say the seven-month truce has left Nkunda stronger than ever, allowing his soldiers, who he claims number more than 8,000, to draw government salaries and deploy in positions they never succeeded in occupying by force. U.N. and humanitarian agencies believe between 10,000 and 40,000 people have fled fighting in recent weeks, raising the total number of displaced in North Kivu to around 700,000.
