Congo, Rwanda to sign peace deal in Washington on June 27
Congo and Rwanda and the U.S. State Department said the two countries will sign a peace agreement in Washington on June 27 aimed at ending fighting in eastern Congo.
Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels in the mineral-rich eastern region bordering Rwanda, according to the Associated Press. UN experts say the rebels are backed by about 4,000 Rwandan troops, but Rwanda denies supporting the M23.
The decades-long conflict escalated in January when M23 rebels advanced and captured the strategic Congolese city of Goma, and then Bukavu in February.
The draft agreement includes provisions for “respect for territorial integrity and prohibition of hostilities; disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration of non-state armed groups,” according to a joint statement on Wednesday. The agreement also promises respect for territorial integrity and conditional integration of non-state armed groups.
Congo and Rwanda are not officially at war and have held peace talks in the past, but most have stalled, including those hosted by Qatar.
Koneye Nanga, leader of the rebel alliance Congo River Alliance, told the Associated Press in April that neither international sanctions nor a proposed mining deal between Congo and the United States would stop the fighting.
M23 is one of about 100 armed factions vying for control of eastern Congo. But unlike the other factions, they are mostly made up of Tutsis who have failed to integrate into the Congolese army. The group claims they are protecting Tutsis and Rwandan Congolese from discrimination, though critics say their Rwandan-backed movement is a pretext for exerting economic and political influence over eastern Congo.
Rwanda’s long-time president Paul Kagame has accused Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi of ignoring the concerns of Tutsis and ignoring previously reached peace deals.
