The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group cautiously welcomed Thursday the prospect of direct negotiations with the Congolese government to end the conflict in the volatile eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Democratic Republic of Congo and M23 rebels will engage in direct negotiations in the coming days to end the conflict in the country’s mineral-rich east, according to the presidency of Angola, which will mediate the talks.

Mine shafts snake under the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's mountains, but instead of the Congolese government their rich veins are making a mint for the Rwanda-backed M23. - 'Forced labour' - Sources close to the Congolese government accuse Rwanda of leading a war for control of the region's particularly fertile agricultural land.