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A plainclothes policeman catches a woman during a police crackdown on prostitution in Quanzhou, Fujian province, October 29, 2011. China should remove criminal and administrative penalties against sex workers which often lead to serious police abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on May 14, 2013. The abuses include torture, beatings, physical assaults, fines and arbitrary detentions of up to two years, as well as a failure to investigate crimes against sex workers by clients, bosses and state agents, according to the report. Prostitution is not permitted under Chinese law, although the industry has boomed since the country launched economic reforms in 1978. REUTERS/Stringer

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Congo rejects rebel demand for talks: spokesman

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Recruits of the newly formed Congolese Revolutionary Army march during military training in Rumangabo military camp, Democratic Republic of Congo, October 23, 2012. REUTERS/James Akena

Recruits of the newly formed Congolese Revolutionary Army march during military training in Rumangabo military camp, Democratic Republic of Congo, October 23, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/James Akena

DAKAR | Mon Nov 19, 2012 7:44am EST

DAKAR (Reuters) - The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday rejected a 24-hour ultimatum from rebels in the east of the country to open talks or face an onslaught, accusing neighboring Rwanda of being behind the rebellion.

"M23 is defined by the government as a fiction created by Rwanda to hide their criminal activities against the DRC," Congo's government spokesman Lambert Mende told Reuters by telephone from Kinshasa.

"We do not want to deal with them or answer their ultimatums or proposals. It is an ultimatum from a fictitious group that has no real value to us," Mende said.

The M23 rebels on Monday gave the government 24 hours to open peace talks and pull back its forces or risk an escalation of fighting in the east after advancing to within 5 km (2 miles)of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu province.

(Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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