NAIROBI, KENYA — Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo announced a unilateral cease-fire Wednesday, offering hopes of an end to the violence that has displaced 200,000 people since August.
Earlier in the day, false reports about advancing rebels sent thousands of panicked families fleeing a displacement camp and storming into the eastern city of Goma, where they jammed streets, rioted and attacked United Nations vehicles.
A spokesman for rebel leader Gen. Laurent Nkunda confirmed the cease-fire agreement but provided no details.
Experts said the rebel leader, who claims to be fighting to protect ethnic Tutsis, is probably seeking to solidify his recent territorial gains in the hopes of gaining the upper hand in peace talks.
It remained unclear how long any cease-fire might hold. Past agreements between Nkunda and the government have quickly collapsed.
The country's northeast region has been ravaged by unrest, disease and starvation for more than a decade, resulting in millions of deaths. Efforts to end the turmoil, including a U.N.-monitored presidential election in 2006 and a peace treaty signed in January by Nkunda and the government of President Joseph Kabila, have failed to keep militias and armed ethnic groups from vying for control.
Government officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but officials at the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo heralded the cease-fire announcement.
"This gives peace a chance, and the humanitarian community will be able to organize themselves," said Madnodje Mounoubai, a U.N. spokesman in the capital, Kinshasa.
The cease-fire agreement capped a day of mass hysteria, sparked by the sight of deserting government soldiers.
U.N. officials denied there were any rebel incursions toward Goma, headquarters for the 17,000-member U.N. peacekeeping force, the largest in the world. "It was just panic among civilians," Mounoubai said.
The panic apparently began at an overcrowded displacement facility six miles north of the city, where 45,000 people have swarmed in recent days.
By midafternoon, camp dwellers saw government soldiers running away from the battlefield and toward Goma. Fearing rebels were in hot pursuit, thousands of people spontaneously joined the exodus, carrying children, goats, mattresses and water cans on their backs.
"The army ran, so we must too," said Bingo Mamashagu, father of four.
