By Joe Bavier

GOMA, Congo, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Congo's government has invited about 20 armed groups to participate in talks with Tutsi rebels to end fighting in war-ravaged North Kivu province, the information minister said on Sunday.

Tutsi insurgent leader General Laurent Nkunda demanded direct negotiations with President Joseph Kabila's government after launching a renewed offensive in late August that forced a quarter of a million people to flee violence in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo.

Repeatedly routed by Nkunda's battle-hardened fighters, the government appeared to agree to that demand on Friday, announcing it would send a delegation to Kenya to meet with the rebels on Dec. 8.

On Sunday Information Minister Lambert Mende said the meeting in Nairobi would also include other armed groups which signed up to a January peace deal.

"There are about 20 of them," he told Reuters. "We want this to be an inclusive process. We don't want to leave anyone out."

Kabila and Nkunda are not expected to attend the meetings in Nairobi.

A spokesman for Nkunda's National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) said the rebel delegation had not been informed of the decision to invite other groups, including pro-government militias, to the talks.

Nkunda has rejected as one-sided the peace process resulting from the January accord, known by its Swahili name 'Amani' meaning 'peace'.

"Our position is very clear. We will negotiate with the government and no one else," the CNDP's Bertrand Bisimwa told Reuters from Nairobi.

"The government can negotiate with whomever it wants. But any attempt to impose Amani on us will fail," he said.

Nkunda declared a unilateral ceasefire in late October when his troops were on the verge of overrunning the provincial capital, Goma.

The ceasefire has been largely respected by both the rebels and the army, leading to more than a month of relative calm in North Kivu.

However, clashes continue between Nkunda's fighters and local Mai Mai militia and Rwandan Hutu rebels, who roam a province rich in gold, diamonds, coltan and tin and often support Kabila's weak and chaotic army.

"STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION"

Both government officials and rebel representatives have said the main goal of Monday's talks will be to cement the ceasefire and bring other groups on board.

Observers and diplomats have cautiously welcomed the meeting as an important first step towards defusing tensions that have threatened to escalate into another regional war.

"What matters is that the government and CNDP are going to talk to each other. That's what appears is going to happen. And that's a step in the right direction," a Western diplomat said.

Congo's 1998-2003 war sucked in six neighbouring armies and sparked a humanitarian crisis that has killed more than 5 million people.

Two years of sporadic fighting between Nkunda's rebels and government soldiers and militiamen have forced nearly a million people to flee their homes in North Kivu, unleashing yet another worsening humanitarian catastrophe.

Congo is home to the world's largest United Nations peacekeeping mission, with more than 17,000 soldiers. Even that force has been unable to stop the fighting, and the deployment of 3,000 reinforcements, already approved by the Security Council, could take up to six months.

European Union nations have been asked by the U.N. to provide a bridging force, but diplomats say such a mission appears increasingly unlikely. (Editing by Daniel Magnowski and Matthew Jones) (daniel.magnowski@reuters.com; Dakar Newsroom +221 33 864 5076)) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)

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