KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Representatives of the Congolese government and the M23 rebels signed a preliminary agreement in which both parties accepted responsibility for the failure of an earlier peace deal, a Ugandan mediator said Wednesday, praising both parties as highly committed to the peace talks.

Crispus Kiyonga, the Ugandan minister who is mediating the talks, told reporters that the agreement Wednesday was a breakthrough reached “in the spirit of reconciliation.”