DRC militia groups to lay down arms ahead of poll

Three main militia groups in a strife-torn eastern province have agreed to lay down arms and allow free passage of voters during the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s historic elections, the United Nations said today.

Kemal Saiki, a spokesman for the 17,600-troop peacekeeping force in the DRC said “several hundred” fighters will join the country’s post-war army in return for disarming and allowing Sunday’s vote to go ahead in Ituri Province.