A source briefed on the negotiations told Reuters this Thursday.

Fighting in the eastern DRC escalated this year as M23 staged an advance that saw it seize the region's two largest cities.

African leaders along with Doha and Washington are trying to broker a peace deal that would put an end to a conflict with roots in the Rwandan genocide more than three decades ago.

Qatar successfully brokered a surprise meeting in March between DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Both leaders called for a ceasefire after the meeting.

In April the DRC and M23 issued statements pledging to work towards peace, though sources in both camps expressed patience over the pace of the talks in Doha.

"Negotiations between the AFC/M23 and the DRC government in Doha have entered a deeper phase, with both sides engaging on the core issues underlying the conflict," the source briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Thursday.

But it was unclear there had been major breakthroughs.

The DRC says Rwanda is supporting M23 by sending troops and arms.

Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces are acting in self defence against the DRC's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed around 1 million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis.

The draft peace proposal is the result of more than two months of direct and indirect talks between M23 and Congo held in Doha and mediated by Qatar.

--Reuters--