Security Council On Peace for Africa's Great Lakes Region

The Security Council today reiterated its commitment to the United Nations-brokered peace accord for Africa's strife-torn Great Lakes region and demanded an immediate end to hostilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where fresh clashes between armed rebels and Congolese troops have sent thousands of civilians fleeing for safety.

"The Security Council further demands that the members of all armed groups immediately and permanently disband and lay down their arms, and calls for the restoration of State authority of the Government of the DRC in eastern DRC," the 15-member Council said in a presidential statement at the start of the meeting chaired by United States Secretary of State, John Kerry.