M23, DR Congo sign new peace roadmap

THE Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 militia signed a new peace framework at the weekend in Qatar aimed at ending the fighting that has devastated eastern DRC.

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Qatar, with the US and the AU, has shuttled between the two sides for months hoping to end the conflict in DRC's mineral-rich east, where the M23 has captured key cities.

DRC and M23 signed one ceasefire deal and an earlier framework in July. But each side has accused the other of breaking the truce.

Hundreds of thousands of people have died in various conflicts in eastern DRC since the mid-1990s.

The signing of the new deal, the Doha Framework for a Comprehensive Peace Agreement, was completed at a ceremony attended by officials from the warring parties, as well as the US and Qatar.

In a statement, Benjamin Mbonimpa, representing the M23 delegation in Doha, said the agreement contained "no binding clauses" and would not change "the situation on the ground".