Warring parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed a peace deal in South Africa to end more than four years of civil war.
After months of talks in South Africa dubbed the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, the Congolese government, rebels, opposition parties and civil groups signed the deal to end Africa's biggest war, which dragged in six foreign armies.
"The problem with Congolese politics has been how to reach an arrangement that accommodates everyone. We can say that even [the followers of former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko] will also be accommodated in the cabinet structures. It is the most broad-based government that the Congolese can hope for," South African negotiator Sisa Ngombane said after the agreement was signed in Pretoria.
Under the deal, Joseph Kabila will remain president. He will have four new vice-presidents drawn from the government, rebel groups the Rwandan-backed Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) and the Ugandan-backed Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), and opposition groups.
The groups also agreed seven key cabinet portfolios, and five deputy ministers.
"This should go a long way in the reunification process," Ngombane said, adding that a transitional government will be set up early next year.
The Congo war started in 1998 with an uprising in the east of Africa's third-biggest country. It has killed an estimated two million lives, mainly through hunger and disease.