North Kivu provincial governor Julien Paluku told the BBC that security was being increased in Goma, as he feared the rebels would try to cut the city off from the provincial army headquarters in Bueremana.
Self-deprecating and friendly, with big freckles and a ready smile beneath unfashionably boxy glasses, he is as unassuming as the company headquarters in provincial Toyota City.
In February 1999 the office that was in charge of compiling and pursuing the investigation of Avtovaz--the MVD headquarters in the provincial capital of Samara--was destroyed by a huge fire.
After local officials refused to hear his complaints, this young man, who had never been particularly active in politics, went to the headquarters of the provincial government, doused himself in fuel, and lit himself on fire.