Congo rebels sign deal to end eastern conflict

By Lubunga Bya'Ombe

GOMA, Congo (Reuters) - Warring rebels and militias in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo signed a ceasefire deal on Wednesday aimed at ending conflict at the heart of one of the world's most deadly humanitarian catastrophes.

The peace pact in the eastern town of Goma was signed by Tutsi rebels loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda, President Joseph Kabila's government, and several militia and armed groups from Congo's North and South Kivu provinces.

While foreign observers welcomed the deal as a chance for lasting peace in Congo, they warned its implementation could be difficult after the collapse of several previous ceasefires.

"We have indeed won a great battle over the skeptics," Kabila told the closing ceremony of a peace conference in the capital of North Kivu, Goma.

"We are not, however, at the end of our troubles. A new challenge rises up before us, a greater and more difficult challenge than yesterday's: the challenge of implementation."

The pact was the fruit of more than two weeks of intense negotiations between the warring parties in Congo's turbulent eastern borderlands, where conflict has raged on for years despite the formal end of the country's 1998-2003 war.

The United Nations and Western governments had pressed Kabila, Nkunda and militia leaders to make peace. Congo's size and location make it key for stability at the heart of Africa.

A former Belgian colony, Congo is a treasure chest of strategic minerals coveted by both the West and China, such as copper, gold, diamonds, uranium, and coltan, which is used in mobile phones and other consumer electronic products.