At least 900 people have been killed in battles in and around the city of Goma in eastern Congo-Kinshasa in recent weeks.
The Rwanda-backed rebel group M23 is behind much of the violence, but claims to now temporarily lay down their arms and not – as feared – proceed towards another provincial capital, Bukavu.
"It must be clarified that we have no intentions of taking Bukavu or other areas. On the other hand, we reiterate our previous commitments to protect and defend the civilian population and our positions", says a spokesperson for M23 in a statement.
The UN and several individual countries have urged Rwanda to withdraw the rebels and the UK has threatened to review its aid. But President Paul Kagame has denied that his government supports M23.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee due to the recent clashes, many of them to Rwanda.
