Rwandan rebels in the Congo have been given a six-month recess by African nations fighting them there to contemplate disarmament.

Foreign ministers from a regional bloc including central and eastern African states decided to suspend military actions against the rebels after a meeting in Angola on Wednesday.

Back in April, the so-called Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels announced that they would lay down arms, with some starting to disarm in May. They proposed to embrace politics after disarmament on May 30; but, so far, only around 200 fighters have surrendered out of an estimated 1,500.

“The results of this surrender are not sufficient... but still the member states deemed that as acceptable,” Angola’s Foreign Minister Georges Chikoti told national news agency Angop.

The concerned parties would review the FDLR’s progress toward disarming after three months, he said.

The rebels, who seek to topple the government of Rwanda, include former soldiers and Hutu militia, who were held responsible for Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. They are regularly accused of human rights abuses, including massacres of civilians.

The Congo is a major producer of diamonds and metals, including copper and gold.