A rebel group that fought the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo for nearly two years announced Tuesday it would disarm.

In a statement on the Facebook page for M23, leader Bertrand Bisimwa said the group would immediately end its rebellion and "pursue, by purely political means, a search for solutions to the profound issues that led to its creation."

The move came a day after the group and the Congolese government agreed to a ceasefire, during talks in Uganda.

"To this effect, the major general and all unit commanders of the of the Congolese Revolutionary Army are asked to prepare the troops for the disarmament process," Bisimwa's statement added.

"This is a hopeful first step toward peace and prosperity in this region," said Russ Feingold, the U.S. special envoy to the Congo and the Great Lakes region. He predicted that the agreements could be signed "in the next few days."
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But, he said "no one should mistake this as the final solution to this problem."
He noted that dozens of armed groups fighting over complex issues have killed more than 5 million people in the past two decades in the region. "We need a broader political dialogue to solve that," he said.

Feingold urged that amnesty not be granted to those who committed war crimes or crimes against humanity, but said he hoped that the "vast majority" of M23 members would be able to reintegrate into Congolese life.

In late October, a U.N. peacekeeper was killed during fighting between Congolese forces and M23 rebels, according to a United Nations statement.

The Tanzanian peacekeeper was part the U.N. Organization Stabilization Mission in the eastern part of the vast Central African nation. The mission was joining the Congolese military in an effort to protect civilians about 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Goma, the largest city in the region, the statement said. Rebels briefly held Goma a year ago.

The eastern part of the DRC is a mineral-rich region at the epicenter of a bloody political and ethnic conflict involving its neighbors to the east, Uganda and Rwanda. Clashes in the region over the past year between the M23 rebel group and Congolese government troops have displaced more than 100,000 people, according to the U.N.

M23 is named for a March 23, 2009, agreement it accuses the government of having violated. The soldiers, mostly from the Tutsi ethnic group, became part of the national army through that accord.

However, they broke away from the Congolese army last year, complaining of lack of pay, poor conditions and failure to receive promised promotions.
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Welcome the m23 rebels, good move in right direction from the tutsi nations' this is what brings peace to southern nigerian today. Spdc, agip, total, harliburtone, schlumberger, baker hughes, saipem, & many multinational companies working freely without the fear of gunshot from (MEND). Peace will return to goma eastern Congo, & DRC. One day bokoharam wil cease fire & peace wil return to maiduguri northeast & northern Nigeria.

Dejohnbull: Welcome the m23 rebels, good move in right direction from the tutsi nations' this is what brings peace to southern nigerian today. Spdc, agip, total, harliburtone, schlumberger, baker hughes, saipem, & many multinational companies working freely without the fear of gunshot from (MEND). Peace will return to goma eastern Congo, & DRC. One day bokoharam wil cease fire & peace wil return to maiduguri northeast & northern Nigeria.

AMEN