Jul 6, 2022
Congo, Rwanda Agree to De-Escalate Tensions After Luanda Summit
Bloomberg News
,(Bloomberg) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda agreed to de-escalate tensions on the security situation in the eastern part of the former, following a day’s summit hosted in Angola’s capital, Luanda.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, met Wednesday at the invitation of Angolan President João Lourenço to look for a lasting peace in the eastern part of Congo.
“The Luanda tripartite summit on security situation in eastern DRC concluded with an agreed-upon roadmap to de-escalate hostilities,” Rwanda Broadcasting Agency says on its Twitter handle. “That includes addressing the issue of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda while the issue of March 23 Movement to be dealt with domestically within the framework of the Nairobi process.”
While the government of Congo and the so-called M23 Movement agreed in 2013 to formalize agreements to end hostilities in eastern Congo, in which the Kinshasa government committed to quickly facilitating the return of refugees, the tenets were never implemented.
The M23 Movement, mostly made up of ethnic Tutsi fighters from Congo is saying their government hasn’t honored past commitments to reintegrate them into the national army, forcing them to pick up arms again to fight the regime.
Congo accuses Rwanda of backing M23 rebels who operate in the east of the country and have increased attacks in recent days and capturing a few towns in the past month. Rwanda strongly denied supporting the movement.
Eastern Congo is an important source of minerals and other natural resources for its neighbors, including Rwanda, which has long been accused of benefiting from rampant smuggling along the shared border with Congo.
Read more: Kagame Slams Congo Leader Over ‘Real Issues’ Amid War Risk (2)
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