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The statement was posted online by spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka of
the M23 rebels, and confirmed by government spokesman Patrick
Muyaya in comments to local media outlets.
The statement said the parties had agreed to “work towards
concluding a truce" and that they were reaffirming their
commitment to “an immediate end to hostilities." Previous
commitments to a ceasefire, announced unilaterally, have not
held, and Wednesday's statement was the first such commitment to
be announced jointly.
Delegations from Congo’s government and the M23 rebel group met
earlier this month in Doha, Qatar’s capital, according to
officials from both sides.
The Associated Press was not immediately able to verify if the
latest announcement had changed conditions on the ground in
Congo's mineral-rich eastern region.
The decades-long conflict in eastern Congo escalated in January,
when the M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic city of
Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu in February.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a
foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with
Rwanda, in a conflict that has created one of the world’s most
significant humanitarian crises. More than 7 million people have
been displaced.
The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring
Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, and at times have vowed to
march as far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, about 1,600
kilometers (1,000 miles) to the east.
The U.N. Human Rights Council last month launched a commission
to investigate atrocities, including allegations of rape and
killing akin to “summary executions” by both sides.
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