GOMA, Democratic Republic of the Congo Rwandan-backed rebels are quoted by AFP as saying Sunday around 2,650 child soldiers are waiting to be demobilized in the territory it controls in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Crispen Kabasele, head of Exterior Relations for the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), said the majority of the children had been recruited by Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL).

He told reporters the children were "waiting to be integrated into normal life with the aid of the international community," but Despite promises to demobilize them by UNICEF and other aid agencies "things are dragging."

Kabasele said the child soldiers belonged to different units of the rebel army.

The rebellion, which began in 1998 and has split the country in two, has left some 2.5 million people dead mostly through disease and malnutrition, and inflamed ethnic tensions in Central Africa.