DHAKA: The Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebel group has declared an end to its 20-month rebellion, saying it is ready to disarm and demobilise troops and pursue a political solution to end the crisis in the east of the country.

The M23 declaration was issued hours after government forces drove the rebel fighters out of their last two strongholds at around 3:00am local time (00:00 GMT) on Tuesday, reports Al Jazeera.

African leaders had urged the group to renounce their rebellion to allow the signing of a peace agreement with DRC president Joseph Kabila’s government.

‘The chief of general staff and the commanders of all major units are requested to prepare troops for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration on terms to be agreed with the government of Congo,’ M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa said in a statement.

Congolese government spokesman Laurent Mende said many rebel fighters were surrendering after government soldiers seized control of Tshanzu and Runyoni.

Mende said the Kinshasa government was ready to pursue peace talks.

‘In a region that has suffered so much, this is obviously a significant positive step in the right direction,’ Russell Feingold, US special envoy to the Congo and the Great Lakes region, said at a briefing in Pretoria.

BDST: 1820 HRS, NOV 05, 2013
RoR/RK