21.   Ankara also has accused Iran of backing rebel Kurds fighting for autonomy in the south.

22.   Ankara also has accused Iran of backing rebel Kurds fighting for autonomy in southern Turkey.

23.   Ankara also accuses Damascus of backing Kurdish rebels.

24.   As for support, the Sierra Leonean government accuses Liberian President Charles Taylor of backing the rebels, with whom he was tightly allied during his own rebel days.

25.   Both countries, however, deny backing the rebels.

26.   Both Kabila and Mugabe are former rebel leaders, as is Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, whose troops are also backing rebels in Congo.

27.   Both countries back Congolese rebels who control the north and east of the country.

28.   But his relations with his backers soured, and now Uganda and Rwanda are backing Congolese rebels to oust him.

29.   But Rwanda, which backs some rebels and has its own troops in Congo, said Thursday that neither President Paul Kagame nor any delegates would attend the summit.

30.   But rebel commander Jean-Pierre Ondekane said Monday that the countries backing the rebels had yet to intervene in the war.