France, March 24 -- Angola announced on Monday it would withdraw from its role as mediator in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between government forces and the M23 rebel group in order to focus on its presidency of the African Union (AU).

The Angolan president, Joao Lourenco was named mediator by the AU in 2022 in an attempt to end the conflict involving the M23 which stepped up its offensives in January and seized large swathes of land in mineral-rich eastern DRC.

Rwanda denies providing the M23 with military assistance. President Paul Kagame's administration says it faces a threat in the region from the FDLR group, founded by ethnic Hutu leaders involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis.

"Angola r...