GOMA, Congo -- Reports that Angolan troops had joined Congolese soldiers battling rebels near the city of Goma raised new fears that the conflict could spread in the region, but the U.N. chief holding a peace conference in nearby Nairobi denied the reports.

New clashes between the army and rebels erupted outside Goma near Kibati, where about 45,000 refugees from the rebellion in mineral-rich eastern Congo have taken refuge.

Congo asked Angola for support Oct. 29 as rebels led by a Tutsi former general, Laurent Nkunda, advanced toward Goma, capital of North Kivu province near the Rwandan border. Nkunda called a unilateral cease-fire last week when his forces reached the city outskirts, but the truce has crumbled.

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