Fearing reprisal, thousands of Congolese Tutsis have fled across the nearby border into Tutsi-run Rwanda.
They linked up with other groups opposed to a Tutsi-led Rwanda and its ally Uganda.
But the main reason why the rebellion is so disliked is that it is seen as Tutsi-led.
The enemy - the Rwandan Patriotic Front or RPF - had been formed among Tutsi exiles in Uganda.
The rebels' protestations that they are Congolese and their leader is not a Tutsi, will not be believed.
But many Burundians, including those among the Tutsi minority, are waiting see how the FDD will govern in practice.
Likewise, Congolese Tutsi businessmen serve as a Rwandan vanguard, opening up eastern Congolese land for cattle grazing and mining.
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Bizima Karaha, Mr Kabila's former foreign minister and the most articulate of the civilian rebel leaders, is a Tutsi.
The same rule applies in Burundi, where the government is more blatantly Tutsi.
Nkunda has accused the Congolese government of failing to protect the Tutsi tribe from Rwandan Hutu militia in Congo.
It is urgently seeking a formula that would be reasonably democratic and, at the same time, protect the Tutsi minority.
The Hutu militants believe Mr Museveni is the mastermind of a plot to create a Tutsi empire in Central Africa.
The Tutsi-dominated army, which ran the country from 1966 until 1993, shows no sign of negotiating itself out of power.
Mr Buyoya argues that he is the only man who can pull this off, as the Tutsi generals trust him.
Though Tutsis account for only a small proportion of Rwanda's population, the most powerful people in the government are all Tutsi.
In 1990, Kagame was attending a training course at Fort Leavenworth in the U.S. state of Kansas when Tutsi rebels invaded Rwanda.
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The two Hutu rebel groups, who remain outside the peace process, have been fighting against the minority Tutsi dominated army since 1993.
Nkunda, a Tutsi, has repeatedly blamed the Congolese government for failing to protect the Tutsi tribe from Rwandan Hutu militia in Congo.
The victims were mostly from the Tutsi ethnic minority, who were targeted by Hutus over a rivalry that dates to colonial days.
The rebels see the Tutsi-dominated army, which has also been accused of grave human rights violations against Hutus, as their principle enemy.
With good reason: in a country with an 85% Hutu majority, a Tutsi-led government would be hard pressed to win an election.
Ethnic friction arose when colonial Belgium built an alliance with Tutsi leaders, a ruling class that was overthrown by Hutus in 1959.
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The rebellion, say many Congolese, is a Tutsi one, not involving them.
The strongest opponents of the draft are mainly, though not exclusively, Tutsi.
How long can the Tutsi-led armies of both countries fend them off?
Nkunda, a Tutsi and former Congolese army general, has repeatedly blamed the Congolese government for not protecting Tutsis from Rwandan Hutus in Congo.
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The Rwandan court has left cases against supporters of the current Tutsi-led government of Paul Kagame until last and these will prove hard.
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The president of Congo, Joseph Kabila, for his part, is unhappy at the continued links between Mr Nkunda and the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan government.
Under the power-sharing deal, Tutsi President Pierre Buyoya is due to swap places with his Hutu Vice-President Domitien Ndayizeye on 1 May 2003.
Under a power-sharing deal signed in August, the Tutsi minority will have 40% of government and national assembly posts, compared to 60% for Hutus.
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