Congo's president says he is going to launch a unity government, as violence spreads across the country's east and pressure mounts over his handling of the crisis. On Saturday, in some of his first statements since Rwandan-backed rebels captured major cities in eastern Congo,

Felix Tshisekedi told a meeting of the ruling Sacred Union coalition not to be distracted by internal quarrels.

Felix Tshisekedi has announced sweeping changes, including forming a "government of national unity" to prevent security crisis in the eastern part of the country from spiralling into a broader regional war.

M23 rebels, supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to UN experts, have been leading an insurgency in the central African country since last month. The rebels captured the eastern city of Goma,