Despite a recently signed peace agreement, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the M23 armed group have resumed negotiations in Qatar as the country’s mineral-rich eastern provinces become more violent.
Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reported that Kinshasa-based M23 delegations were gathering in Doha to review the implementation of a July truce. At a news briefing on Tuesday, Ansari stated, “We’ve received the two parties here in Doha to talk about the earlier agreement.”
Both sides agreed to a ceasefire and a path to a final settlement as part of the deal, which Qatar brokered. According to its terms, discussions were scheduled to begin on August 8 and wrap up on August 18. Due to allegations of violations from both sides, both deadlines passed without progress.
Ansari claimed that the current discussions include plans to switch prisoners and detainees and to establish a monitoring system for the truce. He added that the discussions were closely supported by the United States and the Red Cross International.
The Qatar-led initiative came after Rwanda, who supports M23, and DRC, signed a separate ceasefire agreement in June. The M23, however, demanded direct discussions with Kinshasa regarding what it termed “unresolved political grievances.”
Donald Trump, the president of the US, has repeatedly argued that he and other people have ended the conflict, calling the DRC the “darkest, deepest” region of Africa and saying that he has “saved lots of lives” among others. Trump made the claim on Monday that nine million people were “killed with machetes” during the illustrious war, insisting that “I stopped it.”
Trump’s claims have been refuted by rights organizations as being false. According to Christian Rumu of Amnesty International, “it is far from the truth to say that he has ended the war.” He continued, “People on the ground continue to experience grave human rights violations, and some of these amounts to crimes against humanity,” and urged Washington to step up efforts to end world war.
More than two million people have been forced to leave their homes in North and South Kivu provinces this year as a result of numerous ceasefire attempts. UN experts claim that Rwandan forces played a “critical” role in supporting the group’s offensive while Human Rights Watch last week accused the M23 of carrying out ethnically targeted “mass killings.”
Rwanda denies involvement, but concerns about a wider regional conflict have increased as a result of the M23’s capture of vast areas, including Goma earlier this year.
Source: Aljazeera
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