AFRICAN leaders were slowly gathering in Pretoria on Monday night for a summit aimed at turning a verbal peace deal to end the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo into a binding agreement.The Congolese government and international envoys are insisting that commanders of the M23 rebels formally declare an end to their 20-month rebellion.The next step, agreed at peace talks in Kampala, Uganda, at the end of last week, will be for the government of President Joseph Kabila to cease military hostilities against the fast-retreating rebels.Reports of fresh fighting between rebels and government troops in the eastern part of the Congo on Monday dimmed hopes of a breakthrough at the summit."The message is very clear that this has to be the end of the rebellion of the M23," said Martin Kobler, the United Nations (UN) special representative in the Congo and head of Monusco, the huge UN mission in the country with nearly 20,000 soldiers there.The joint summit of the Southern Africa...
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