African Union convinces rebels to leave Goma
Wednesday 28 November 2012
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EmailRebels agreed to withdraw from the key DR Congo city of Goma today following intervention from the African Union.
The M23 rebel group said it will withdraw to 12 miles north of the city it captured from the military on November 20.
Rebel leaders have already missed a Monday deadline to leave Goma and had said they'd stay until President Joseph Kabila agreed to wide-ranging reforms and negotiations.
But they appear to have agreed to regional leaders' demands to be out by Friday as a precondition of talks.
Around 1,000 Goma residents marched through the town at lunch time today, calling on the rebels to stay because of dissatisfaction with President Kabila's administration and fear of reprisals from the army.
The M23 group was formed by army defectors in April and the UN says it is mainly backed by Rwanda.
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