The M23 armed group said Tuesday it had agreed to a request from the United States to withdraw from the city of Uvira in the easternDemocratic Republic ofCongo.
TheRwanda-backed militia seized the city near the border withBurundilast week, days after the Congolese and Rwandan governments signeda road map towards a peace agreementin Washington whose future has been cast in doubt by the M23 advance, raising fears of a wider regional war.
Read moreMore than 400 civilians killed in fighting in eastern DR Congo
The group "will unilaterally withdraw its forces from the city of Uvira, as requested by the US mediators", it said in a statement signed by its coordinator, Corneil Nangaa.
The M23 called for "adequate measures" to be put in place to manage the city, including "demilitarisation, protecting its population and infrastructure, and monitoring theceasefirewith a neutral force".
It called for implementation of a framework ceasefire deal reached in a parallel peace process negotiated in the Qatari capitalDoha, which was agreed in November but never respected on the ground.
The M23 said it was withdrawing as a gesture "to instil trust in order to give the Doha peace process every chance to succeed".
The DRC's mineral-rich east has been ravaged by three decades of conflict.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Originally published on France24
