Angola eyes Rwanda-DR Congo meeting to ease tensions

Fighting between the mostly Tutsi M23 (March 23) rebels and Congolese forces has flared in the DR Congo's east, displacing more than 100,000 people, according to the United Nations.

DR Congo, the United Nations and Western nations accuse Rwanda of backing the M23, an allegation Kigali denies.

"It was decided that President (Paul) Kagame would agree to meet President (Felix) Tshisekedi on a date to be indicated by the mediator," Angola's Tete Antonio told the press.

The declaration followed a meeting in Angola's capital Luanda between Rwanda's  Kagame and Angolan President Joao Lourenco, the African Union's (AU) mediator.

"The Heads of State agreed on key steps towards addressing the root causes of the conflict, and the need to uphold the Luanda and Nairobi processes to achieve peace and stability in the region," Rwanda's presidency said on X, formerly Twitter.

At the end of February, the DRC presidency said on X, quoting Tete Antonio: "President Felix Tshisekedi has in principle given his agreement to meet his Rwandan counterpart."

But it added that "Felix Tshisekedi is demanding the withdrawal of RDF (Rwandan) troops from Congolese territory, the cessation of hostilities and the M23 rebel quarters before meeting Paul Kagame."

Kagame and Tshisekedi last met in Ethiopia's capital on February 16 on the sideline of the AU leaders summit, during a “mini-summit” organised by Lourenco.

According to two diplomatic sources in Addis Ababa, the meeting was very tense and ended with an "exchange of insults".

After eight years of dormancy, the M23 rebels took up arms again at the end of 2021 and seized large swathes of the North Kivu region, which borders Rwanda.

At the end of 2023, the UN estimated that nearly seven million people were displaced in DR Congo, including 2.5 million in North Kivu alone.

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