African states back UN peace plan for DR Congo

UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon said the peace, security and co-operation framework for Congo would bring stability to the region.

The DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Angola, Uganda, South Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and the Republic of Congo all signed the "peace framework agreement" in Ethiopia.

Mr Ban said the signing was "significant even in itself," but stressed that peace would take "sustained engagement."

The DRC neighbours promised not to interfere individually in the country's internal affairs.

The UN accused Rwanda and Uganda last year of aiding M23 rebels in eastern Congo - both denied the allegation.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame praised the agreement for getting to grips with the "multifaceted" causes of the Congo crisis.

"Any meaningful contribution toward lasting peace in the DRC and the Great Lakes region has to abandon the self-defeating practice of selectivity in both memory and responsibility," he said.

Mr Ban added that he would be issuing a special report on the DRC and the Great Lakes in coming days, including a review of the UN's own security force in Congo, Monusco.

He said his new "comprehensive approach" would include "a strengthened political and security role for Monusco, including the deployment of an intervention brigade with a peace enforcement mandate."

African countries had committed to support the brigade, he added.

The M23 rebel group which has been fighting in the region was set up by former members of the Rwandan army who fled the country after the 1994 genocide.

Those responsible for the massacres joined various foreign groups plundering the DRC's vast mineral wealth for their own ends.

The rebels briefly took control of parts of the east last November, but declared a unilateral ceasefire last month.

President Joseph Kabila also vowed to advance decentralisation and expand social services across the nation.

The UN, African Union and other development groups all back the push for peace.

The deal was supposed to be signed last month but was delayed at the last minute due to "procedural issues."