Congo and the M23 rebels committed to "building trust" through various measures, including an exchange of prisoners and detainees as well as restoring state authority in all parts of the country, including rebel-held areas, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi, Qatar's minister of state, said at a briefing on Saturday.
It was not immediately clear if the declaration involves M23's withdrawal from cities it controls, as the two parties seemed to interpret the agreement differently.
Bertrand Bisimwa, an M23 leader, said on X that the declaration is "not a question of withdrawal but of mechanisms for empowering the state, enabling it to assume its prerogatives and obligations".
M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka told The Associated Press in a telephone call: "We are in Goma with the population and we are not going to get out."
However, Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said the declaration takes into account "the non-negotiable withdrawal" of the rebels, followed by the deployment of government forces and institutions.
Backed by neighbouring Rwanda, the M23 is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups fighting for control in Congo's mineral-rich east.Â
With seven million people displaced in Congo, the UN has called the conflict in eastern Congo "one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on earth".
Saturday's signing is the first direct commitment by both sides since the rebels seized two key cities in eastern Congo in a major advance early this year.
A final peace deal is to be signed no later than August 18, and it "shall align with the Peace Agreement between Congo and Rwanda," facilitated by the US in June, according to a copy of the declaration seen by AP.
