Members of the Democratic Republic of the Cong (DRC)’s M23 rebel movement said today that they are willing to withdraw from the captured city of Goma in line with a demand by regional leaders and the African Union (AU).
Officers and soldiers from the group spoke to CNN and said that the M23 forces will pull back to a position 20 kilometers north of Goma.
As of early this morning there was no sign of movement in Goma. The rebels seized Goma last week after days of fighting with government forces.
the city however remained calm as people sought to go about their normal business.
A U.N. official said late yesterday that the rebels appeared to be starting to withdraw from Goma after defying a deadline set by regional leaders under which they were supposed to leave by midnight Monday.
African leaders who convened in Uganda over the weekend demanded that the M23 group withdraw from Goma as a condition of initiating negotiations.
The Great Lakes region leaders called on the rebels to stop all war activities and”stop talk of overthrowing an elected government.