Abdoulaye Miskine, leader of the Democratic Front for the central Africab people (FDPC), a rebel movement based in the northern Central African Republic (CAR), has signed an agreement to end hostilities with the government in Bangui. The local press said that the Libreville peace accord that Bangui had signed with other ebel groups in 2008 was ratified by Miskine in the background of the 13th African Union (AU) summit in Sirte, Libya, last week. Miskine met the president of CAR, Francois Bozizé, after signing the document in the presence of Mohammed al Madani al Azhari, general secretary of the Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) who is the mediator between the parties. The day after the accord, 20 FDPC leaders ended their exile, returning to Bangui. The FDPC has announced that it would soon nominate a representative to the former combatant disarmament, re-integration and demobilization committee. In the past weeks, thousands of people were driven from their homes as a result of the fighting between the rebels and the government; the fighting in the north, however, come in a year that has been marked by progress; last January a national unity government which includes representatives from two large armed opposition groups. [AB]