DR Congo-M23 talks headed in 'right direction': diplomat

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Talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group are "progressing in the right direction", a diplomat told AFP Thursday after their negotiators met in Qatar.

The M23 rebels had called last week for more talks to address problems left out of a peace agreement between Kigali and Kinshasa inked in Washington in June to end fighting that has killed thousands of people in eastern Congo.

Negotiators from the DR Congo government and the M23 were working with Qatari mediators to "resolve the remaining issues", the diplomat said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

Mediators were seeking to "alleviate the suffering of the local population, reinforce the ceasefire, and encourage further steps towards reconciliation", the diplomat added.

The deal signed by the DRC and Rwanda was aimed at ending fighting that has killed thousands of people in mineral-rich eastern Congo.

But the M23, the main armed group fighting Congolese forces, was not present at the Washington talks and called for a separate ceasefire deal with the DRC government.

The M23 seized vast swathes of territory in eastern DRC in a lightning offensive in January and February, including the key provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu.

Conflict has gripped eastern DRC for more than three decades, driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.

Neighbouring Rwanda denies providing military backing to the group, but UN experts say that the Rwandan army has played a "critical" role in the M23 offensive, including engaging in combat.