The government and rebels from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo have made a "major breakthrough" in meetings in the Nigerian capital, opening the way to full peace talks next month, the United Nations said today.
Representatives of DRC President Joseph Kabila and the two main rebel movements in the country at war since 1998 agreed on who would be allowed to attend the talks in January in South Africa, UN Assistant Secretary General Ibrahim Fall told AFP.
"It went well," Mr Fall said. "The delegations were able to adopt positions on the participation of the different segments of Congolese society to the Inter-Congolese dialogue.
"With the adoption of that position... Now the way is open for the inter-Congolese dialogue to resume," he added.
"This is a major breakthrough," he said.
The announcement followed three days of gruelling talks at the main UN office in Abuja between representatives of Kabila, the Ugandan-backed Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) and the Rwandan-backed Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD).
A representative of Botswanan former President Ketumile Masire, who chairs the inter-Congolese talks, was also present, but representatives of the four main foreign countries also involved in the conflict were not present.
The DRC, a giant country in central Africa, has been at war since 1998 despite a peace accord signed in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, in 1999.
Since 1998, a total of seven countries have been involved in the conflict, with the main foreign protagonists being Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Angola.
One international humanitarian organisation has estimated the death toll resulting from the conflict since 1998 at 2.5 million.
AFP