UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined hands with the leaders of Rwanda and Congo at a high-level meeting aimed at ending the crisis in eastern Congo but the attempt at unity was short-lived. The two presidents remained deeply at odds over responsibility for the escalating violence.

At the heart of the current unrest is a new rebel group known as M23 which launched a rebellion in April when a group of senior commanders defected from the Congolese army. A U.N. report in July accused high-ranking Rwandan officials of supporting the rebels. Rwanda denies any involvement and blames Congo for the surge in violence.

At Thursday's closed-door meeting chaired by the secretary-general, diplomats said Congo's President Joseph Kabila and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame stuck to those positions.