M23 militia says will withdraw from key DRC city of Uvira

The M23 armed group said Tuesday it had agreed to a request from the United States to withdraw from the key city of Uvira in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The group "will unilaterally withdraw its forces from the city of Uvira, as requested by the US mediators", it said in a statement signed by coordinator Corneil Nangaa.

The Rwanda-backed militia seized the strategic city near the border with Burundi last week, days after the Congolese and Rwandan governments signed a peace deal in Washington -- whose future has been cast in doubt by the M23 advance, raising fears of a wider regional war.