RCD leader Dr Adolphe Onusumba is refusing to discuss the issue

On Wednesday, representatives of the Congo Government, rebel factions and other civic groups said they were close to signing an agreement to free all political prisoners and prisoners of war, and to return all seized goods and property.

The agreement would also stipulate that people and goods should be able to circulate freely throughout the DR Congo, and that arbitrary arrests should end.

It is the first time for many years that all factions from the DR Congo have come close to anything like a nationwide consensus.

The talks follow the deployment in recent months of UN peacekeepers who are helping monitor a ceasefire between the warring parties.

Elections

Earlier, rebels criticised government plans not to hold elections for the next three years.

Fighting has left the DR Congo facing a humanitarian crisis

They said the proposal was a government attempt to stay in power.

The announcement was made on Tuesday by the Congolese foreign minister at the talks.

The minister, Leonard She Okitundu, said a new census and a constitution agreed by referendum were needed before elections could be held.

"We want elections to be held as soon as possible... but realistically it will take another two to three years," he said.

The talks themselves are not without their critics.

First are those excluded, from women's groups to exiled former generals, and then there are those who question the sincerity of the many foreign countries involved in the war.

Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi back the rebels, and Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia support the government.

All have a stake in what happens next, but they are not at the talks.