Rebel General Laurent Nkunda seized towns in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, consolidating his grip on the eve of a regional peace summit to be held in Nairobi tomorrow.

Sporadic shooting and shelling occurred for two days around the town of Kiwanja, 50 miles north of the provincial capital Goma, as General Nkunda's National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) rebel army fought off attacks by pro-government Mai Mai militias.

The fighting in the ramshackle town came just a day after the first aid convoy to reach rebel-held territory in a week had arrived in the area.

Hundreds sought shelter at an abandoned school building next to the UN base manned by Indian troops. While the blue-helmeted UN peacekeepers hid behind sandbags and razor wire the civilians hoped that the flimsy walls of the roofless school would protect them.

"[The UN] should open their gates to protect us," said Ntaganzwi Sinzahera, a 30-year-old refugee. The fighting between Government and rebels in eastern Congo flared up in August and has intensified recently, forcing an estimated 250,000 people from their homes.

Tuesday's renewed fighting — the first since General Nkunda declared a ceasefire on October 29 after marching on Goma — forced thousands of exhausted, hungry and traumatised civilians to flee once again and aid workers to suspend their activities.

In the midst of the battle Mai Mai militants kidnapped Thomas Scheen, a Belgian journalist working for German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

As peace returned residents of Kiwanja accused General Nkunda's troops of summarily executing civilians and of forcing them from their homes as they hunted down Mai Mai fighters.

The Mai Mai (meaning "magic water" in Swahili) are an ad hoc collection of armed community protection groups mobilised by the government in 1998 to defend against the Rwandan invasion.

During the height of the five-year-long civil war that ensued they numbered an estimated 30,000 and had a fearsome reputation for fighting, and magic. Mai Mai fighters — many of them child soldiers forcibly recruited from their villages — adorned themselves with amulets and chanted spells before going into battle.

A UN officer today also accused General Nkunda of trying to expand his control. "They have taken Nyanzale and Kikuku, therefore breaking their own declared ceasefire. Now it's clear they are trying to have a territory completely under their control," said Lt-Col Jean-Paul Dietrich.

Rebel troops maintain a stranglehold on Goma from their positions just a few miles outside the city. The shaky ceasefire is still holding there but peacekeepers are bracing themselves. "Should armed groups choose to enter Goma, the order is to open fire," said Alain Le Roy, the head of UN peacekeeping.

General Nkunda's position was further strengthened as Congo's Government backtracked on an earlier refusal to negotiate directly with the rebels. "The Government is ready to listen to all the armed groups," said Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito. "I am ready to listen, to receive the grievances of other groups… including those of the CNDP."

General Nkunda, who claims to be fighting to protect the minority Tutsi population, had threatened to topple the Government in Kinshasa, almost 1,000 miles away, if his demand for direct talks was not met.

Both General Nkunda's Tutsi army and the opposing Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) Hutu militants control territories rich in tin, gold, diamonds and other resources that help fuel the fighting.

It is hoped that the African Union-sponsored talks in the Kenyan capital Nairobi will be a start to rejuvenating the floundering peace process. Congolese President Joseph Kabila and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame as well as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and several other regional presidents are due to attend.

Mr Kagame is accused of supporting his former comrade General Nkunda, a charge he denies. He describes the ongoing conflict in neighbouring Congo as an "internal problem".

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