Congo and M23 rebels plan to hold first direct talks on April 9

The Congo government and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels aim to hold direct talks on April 9, sources from both camps said on Tuesday, a potential boost to Qatar's efforts to end the Central African country's worst fighting in decades.

The meeting in Doha would be the two sides' first direct negotiations since M23 fighters captured eastern Congo's two largest cities in a rapid offensive that has left thousands dead and forced hundreds of thousands more from their homes.

One Congolese official said that talks were scheduled for April 9 "unless the other side misbehaves". A source inside M23 confirmed the date and said it would present Kinshasa with its demands. Both sides have agreed not to publicly discuss the substance of the talks, the sources said.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame held a surprise meeting in Doha on March 18.

Qatar hosted a second round of talks between the two countries beginning on Friday and met separately with M23 representatives. Congolese officials and M23 have not yet met, sources said.

Rwanda denies supporting M23 and says its military has been acting in self-defence against Congo's army and militias hostile to Kigali.

The conflict, which has raged on Congo's eastern border with Rwanda and Uganda, is rooted in the fallout from Rwanda's 1994 genocide and regional competition for mineral riches.

M23 has long demanded direct negotiations with Kinshasa, but Tshisekedi had refused, arguing that M23 was merely a front for Rwanda. He reversed his position last month amid mounting battlefield defeats, and agreed to send a delegation to Luanda, the Angolan capital.

Those talks were cancelled at the last minute when M23 pulled out after being hit by European Union sanctions.