Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels hold high-stakes talks in Qatar in a renewed push for peace
Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels hold high-stakes talks in Qatar in a renewed push for peace
Congo’s government and Rwanda-backed rebels are meeting in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar for much-anticipated talks in a renewed push for peace in the conflict-battered eastern Congo, where the insurgents have seized vast territory, officials said Thursday.
The decades-long conflict escalated in January, when the M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic eastern Congolese city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu in February. The fighting has killed some 3,000 people and raised the fears of a wider regional war.
According to officials from both sides, the delegations from Congo’s government and the M23 rebel group also met on Wednesday in Doha, Qatar’s capital. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations.
The talks follow a recent Qatar-facilitated meeting between Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Doha and failed efforts by neighboring countries to get both parties to return to dialogue and recommit themselves to a peace deal they each accuse the other of violating.
Among the demands by the rebels is that Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi annul “all death sentences and prosecution” of M23 members, the official within the rebels said. The delegation is led by Bertrand Bisimwa, deputy coordinator of the Congo River Alliance that includes the M23.
Congo’s government delegation is mostly made up of officials from the national security services. They demand the rebels withdraw from territory seized in the conflict-hit region, according to a Congolese official.
Analysts were quick to describe the meeting as meaningful but were wary about any immediate positive outcomes.
A successful outcome of the meeting in Doha would “depend on the ability of the mediator to maintain pressure on the various stakeholders, and particularly Rwanda, and to keep them on the table,” according to Christian Moleka, a political scientist at the Congolese think tank Dypol.
Moleka added that rebel withdrawal would not be easy without pressure from the international community on Rwanda, citing when the M23 briefly captured Goma in 2012 before pulling out.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, in a conflict that has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises. More than 7 million people have been displaced.
The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the east.
Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, recently told The Associated Press that international sanctions and Congo’s proposed minerals deal with the United States in search of peace would not stop the fighting.
“As long as there are no binding measures on Rwanda or the M23, these measures will remain a dead matter,” said Moleka of the Congolese think tank.
By SALEH MWANAMILONGO
Associated Press
