KAMPALA, Uganda -- A spokesman for the Congolese rebel group M23 says peace talks with the Congolese government have resumed in the Ugandan capital.

Rene Abandi, who heads M23's delegation to the talks in Kampala, said Monday that both parties had met separately with their Ugandan mediator.

The talks, which started in December under the banner of a regional bloc, had been put on hold after a rift emerged within the ranks of M23 in late February.

M23 is the most prominent of many rebel groups that operate in Congo's volatile east. It is made up of hundreds of mostly Tutsi fighters who deserted the Congolese national army after accusing the government of failing to respect the terms of a peace deal reached in 2009.