According to Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo will help to end decades of conflict in eastern DRC. The vast DRC’s east has been ravaged by deadly violence that has plagued the area for three decades because it is rich in natural resources, especially lucrative minerals.
The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group seized control of Goma and Bukavu, two important cities, in late January, and heightened fighting in the first few weeks of the year.
According to the DRC government and the UN, the lightning offensive in the east of Rwanda’s border killed thousands of people and worsened the humanitarian crisis for hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers signed a peace deal on Friday in Washington following a string of repeatedly broken truces and ceasefires in recent years and the failure of several attempts to reach a bargaining table between Kinshasa and Kigali.
The DRC government and the M23 are currently negotiating in a similar way with Doha.
The signing of the agreement, which the African Union and the UN described as a significant step toward peace, was attended by a Qatari representative on Friday.
In a speech aired on Monday to mark the 65th anniversary of the DRC’s independence from Belgium, Tshisekedi said, “opens the way to a new era of stability, cooperation, and prosperity for our nation.”
Won’t “sell off” their shares
In the upcoming weeks in Washington, Tshisekedi will meet with Paul Kagame, his Rwandan counterpart.
The agreement specifies restrictions on “respect for territorial integrity and halting hosilities” in eastern DRC, but they are still in effect.
It calls for Rwanda to “learn defensive measures” or for Rwandan soldiers to leave the DRC.
Read more about Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signing a peace agreement in the US following a rebel sweep.
Rwanda has vowed to end the country’s opposition to the M23, but it has also called for the end of another ethnic Hutus-linked armed organization that it claims is threatening: the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which it claims is affiliated with the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
According to the agreement, Kinshasa is proposing to “neutralize” the FDLR.
It provides few details, but it also includes economic measures.
The Congolese president had a meeting with Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman and Tiffany’s father-in-law, who had been chosen by the president as a senior advisor on Africa, in April.
A “regional economic integration framework” to improve transparency in the supply chains of crucial minerals is also anticipated as part of the agreement.
On Saturday, at a conference held in Osaka, Japan, the Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said Kinshasa will not “sell off any of the DRC’s interests.”
The DRC produces the most cobalt in the world, and it also has valuable deposits of gold and other valuable minerals, such as coltan, a metallic ore essential for the manufacture of laptops and phones.
According to Tshisekedi, “This agreement is not just a document; it is a promise of peace for the people” affected by the eastern DRC conflict.
The M23 anti-government group’s territorial gains are not explicitly addressed in the text, which has been negotiated through Qatar since before Trump took office.
The M23 has never officially acknowledged previous ceasefires, just like the Kinshasa-supporting militias it opposes.
Since February, the front has stabilized in the eastern DRC.
However, there is still conflict between M23 fighters and numerous local militias that use guerrilla tactics.
The political-military Congo River Alliance, to which the M23 belongs, was criticized by Corneille Nangaa, who on Monday called the Washington agreement “limited” and accused Kinshasa of “systematically” undermining the Doha mediation process.
Source: Channels TV
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