Blitz Bureau
PEACE talks between the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to end the conflict in the eastern DRC have been called off, according to the Angolan presidency, which has been mediating between the two sides.
“Contrary to what we expected, the summit will no longer be held,” the presidency’s media officer Mario Jorge told journalists, without elaborating on why the meeting was cancelled at the last minute, reported Al Jazeera. Angolan President Joao Lourenco – the African Union mediator to end the conflict – was meeting alone with DRC leader Felix Tshisekedi, Jorge said.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame had been expected at the meeting but it was not clear if he was in Angola, the Al Jazeera report said further. The DRC presidency said in a statement that the meeting was cancelled because the Rwandan delegation refused to take part. Rwanda’s Foreign Ministry said that a lack of consensus over direct talks between the DRC and a rebel group meant that it would not have been possible for a deal to be signed.
There had been hopes the talks would reach an agreement to end the conflict in the eastern DRC, where the M23 fighter group – which the DRC and the UN say is backed by Rwanda – has seized swaths of territory, displacing thousands and triggering a major humanitarian crisis.
Before the talks, fighting intensified between the DRC army and the M23 rebel group. The DRC’s Army had accused M23 of killing 12 civilians earlier this week in villages of the Lubero territory in the eastern province of North Kivu.
An M23 spokesperson, however, denied the accusation, discrediting it as “propaganda” from the DRC Government. M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in the mineral-rich eastern part of DRC near the border with Rwanda. The conflict there has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with more than seven million people displaced.
Rwanda denies that it backs the M23, but in February admitted that it has troops and missile systems in eastern DRC to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of DRC forces near the border.
