The March 23 Movement (M23) rebels say they will return to peace negotiations with Democratic Republic of Congoâ„¢s government.
According to a statement released by a spokesman for the rebels on Thursday, a delegation will be sent to neighboring Uganda on June 9 to resume the peace talks with Congolese government.
Rene Abandi will lead the M23 delegation to Kampala, the statement added.
The most recent round of the peace negotiations between the Congolese government and the M23 rebels, convened by the Conference on the Great Lakes Region under the chairmanship of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, broke down in April.
On May 27, the leader of the M23 said holding negotiations would be the only way to end the war in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Å“The government can’t beat us. They have no choice but to negotiate,” General Sultani Makenga said.
The rebels say the government does not want to negotiate and is just stalling for time until the United Nation intervention brigade arrives in summer.
On May 21, fighting broke out between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels near Goma, after a hiatus of nearly six months.
In February, 11 African countries signed a UN-mediated peace agreement to end the crisis in the east of the DRC, which led to the establishment of a special brigade of UN peacekeepers with a mandate to attack rebel groups.
Several armed groups, including the M23 rebels, are active in the east of the DRC and fighting for control of the countryâ„¢s vast mineral resources, such as gold, the main tin ore cassiterite, and coltan (columbite-tantalite), which is used to make many electronic devices, including cell phones.
The M23 rebels defected from the Congolese army in April 2012 in protest over alleged mistreatment in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) had previously been integrated into the Congolese army under a peace deal signed in 2009.
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This article originally appeared on: Press TV