Rwanda to sign Congo peace deal in June

NAIROBI, May 06 (AFP): Rwanda's foreign minister on Tuesday said a final peace deal to end a crisis gripping the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo would be signed in mid-June in Washington.

M23 fighters, who UN experts and the United States say have received military support from Rwanda, have made rapid advances in the eastern DRC since January, seizing key cities and vast areas of territory in fighting that has killed thousands.

Last month, the DRC and Rwanda agreed at talks in the United States to reach a draft peace deal by May 2, raising hopes of an end to the crisis sparked by the M23's lightning offensive.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told AFP there was still no agreement on the content of the deal but the next steps would involve "consolidation of the contributions of the parties into a single text".