Direct peace talks between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the M23 rebels begin in Angola’s capital on March 18th, Angola’s president said in a statement Wednesday. For now, the Congolese presidency is simply acknowledging that it received the message.
Angola announced Tuesday that it would attempt to mediate the in-person meeting.
The southern African country is trying to mediate a permanent ceasefire and escalating tension between the Congo and its neighboring Rwanda. Rwanda denies these allegations.
Angola calls for direct consultations between Kinshasa and M23 during the DRC crisis
The Congolese government has repeatedly refused to meet in person with M23, but said on Tuesday it had warned Angola’s initiative.
On Wednesday, Tina Salama, spokesman for Congolese President Felix Tsisekedi, told the media that the government received an invitation from Angola but she did not confirm her participation.
Meanwhile, M23 leader Bertrand Bissimwa calls it “the only civilized option to resolve the current crisis” in a post from X, which has been dramatically strengthened since January.
Other Discussions
The situation in the Eastern DRC is also on the agenda on the extraordinary summit of the Southern African region this Thursday.
The meeting was held through video conferences and is chaired by Zimbabwean President Emerson Mnangagwa, who is currently head of the SADC.
The purpose is to clarify the fate of regional forces deployed in the eastern part of the country.
Rebels have seized the capitals of two provinces, eastern Congo, Goma and Bukabu, in a long-term escalation of conflict since January. They are also moving forward in small villages in the area.
Regional meaning
The conflict is rooted in the 1994 ripples of Rwanda’s genocide to the Congo, but it also swirls into the struggle for control of the Congo’s vast mineral resources.
Eastern Congo is in fact home to vast reserves of strategic minerals such as coltan, cobalt, copper and lithium, as well as resources that are the world’s racial centre for developing new technologies and green energy.
Listen to the podcast: Can DRC stop conflict mineral mining?
The Congolese government has said at least 7,000 people have been killed in the battle since January.
According to the UN Humanitarian Agency (OCHA), at least 600,000 people have been exiled by battle since November.
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Human Rights Watch (HRW) is also concerned about the reduction in local civic space controlled by the M23. In a report released Wednesday, the human rights NGO said Rwandan-backed rebels have repeatedly put pressure on civil society activists and journalists, arresting them and assassinating them.
According to HRW and RFI correspondents, the method already used in areas occupied by M23 is now widespread in the North and South Kivu provinces with the help of Rwanda.
Congolese neighbors, including Burundi, Uganda and South Africa, have troops in the eastern DRC.
The Ugandan Army will deploy to the town of Dr. Congo amid fear of wider conflict
This situation raises the horrors of an all-out regional war, reminiscent of the Congo war of the 1990s and early 2000s, which killed millions.
(Reuters and)
