Kinshasa and the M23 rebels have signed documents officially burying the hatchet, a month after the end of the fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
"The DR Congo government and M23 have respectively signed declarations" including the "decision by M23 to end rebellion and transform itself into a legitimate political party", read a document signed by key broker, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Nairobi on Thursday.
Malawian President Joyce Banda also signed the document, on behalf of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The Kenyan presidency trumpeted a "peace deal", but Kinshasa stressed there had only been a signing of unilateral declarations by both sides.
Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende said his side had signed a document pledging to facilitate the demobilisation and reintegration of the rebels.
Mende also said Kinshasa had vowed to submit a bill to parliament on granting some rebel fighters amnesty but insisted: "There is no accord."
The M23, the latest incarnation of an ethnic Tutsi rebellion in eastern DRC, laid down its arms in early November after an offensive by the army and a special UN brigade.
Stabilising eastern DR Congo will not be easy. Previous peace deals for the region have foundered because they were not implemented or did not address underlying problems.
"We call upon international partners, particularly the United Nations and African Union, to work together and provide support and services to the government of DRC for the implementation of the commitments," the document signed by Museveni and Banda added.
Meanwhile a humanitarian crisis is looming over the Central African Republic as tens of thousands seek refuge in makeshift camps around the capital Bangui following a wave of massacres.
Sectarian violence that claimed at least 400 lives in Bangui last week had abated following the weekend arrival of a 1600-strong French intervention force, but many were still afraid to return to their homes.
Aid workers said only a fraction of Bangui's estimated 800,000 residents remained in the city, with many living rough near a French military base and in other areas considered more safe.
The focus is shifting to conditions in the makeshift camps, with humanitarian workers raising fears of cholera and other diseases spreading.
