A de facto ceasefire between Congolese forces and Rwandan-backed rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) town of Walikale appeared to have broken down yesterday, with the rebels going back on a pledge to withdraw and accusing the army of violating its own commitments.The prospect of a ceasefire in the strategic town of Walikale, which the M23 rebels captured last week, had briefly fuelled hopes of reviving stalled diplomatic efforts to resolve eastern DR Congo’s biggest conflict in decades.The conflict, rooted in the long fallout from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and competition for control of mineral riches, has led to rebel control of eastern DR Congo’s two largest cities, thousands of deaths and fears of a wider regional war.However, less than 48 hours after the rebels announced their intention to withdraw from Walikale and DR Congo’s army responded by saying it would refrain from attacking them, the arrangement risked going the way of a string of prior failed ceasefires.Lawrence Kanyuka, the spokesperson for M23’s Congo River Alliance (AFC) rebel coalition, accused the army and allied militias of not withdrawing their attack drones from Walikale.“This situation delays the repositioning of AFC/M23 forces in the zone,” he wrote on X. “It should be noted that this act constitutes a major obstacle to respecting the ceasefire and thus compromises peace initiatives underway.”Army spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Residents of Walikale, which marked the farthest west M23 had reached since escalating their offensive in January, said rebel fighters were still in town yesterday morning.“They haven’t moved. They are still visible in the centre of town,” said one, speaking on condition of anonymity.Attempts to bring the DR Congo and the rebels to the negotiating table have repeatedly failed.The two sides were scheduled to hold direct talks for the first time in Angola last week after Kinshasa dropped its longstanding refusal to speak to the rebels, but M23 then pulled out in protest of European Union sanctions against its leaders and Rwandan officials.Angola meanwhile said yesterday that it was pulling back from efforts to mediate in the conflict and that another African state would take its place.President Joao Lourenco, the current chairperson of the African Union (AU), had been trying to facilitate a lasting ceasefire but his office said in a statement that Angola needed to devote itself more to the AU’s overall priorities.Lourenco was named mediator by the AU in 2022 in an attempt to pacify the protracted conflict in mineral-rich eastern DR Congo.“Angola recognises the need to free itself from the responsibility of mediating this conflict ... in order to more comprehensively focus on the general priorities established by the continental organisation,” the presidency said in a statement.The southern African country took up the rotating presidency of the AU two months ago.Luanda added that “necessary steps” would be taken with the AU Commission to “find the country whose head of state ... should take over the mediation”.“Angola has always believed in the need for direct negotiations between the DR Congo government and the M23,” the presidency said.The DR Congo, the United Nations and Western countries all accuse Rwanda of providing arms and troops to the ethnic Tutsi-led M23.Rwanda denies supporting M23 and says its military has been acting in self-defence against the DR Congo army and a militia founded by perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.