KEY POINTS
- Congo and M23 rebels to begin peace talks in Angola.
- Angola aims to mediate a ceasefire and ease tensions.
- M23 rebels claim they forced Congo to the negotiation table.
Angola’s government said Wednesday that direct peace negotiations between the M23 rebel group and the Democratic Republic of Congo are set to start in Luanda on March 18.
Congo and M23 rebels set for direct peace talks
De-escalating tensions between Congo and neighboring Rwanda is the goal of Angola, which has been mediating attempts to create a permanent ceasefire. Although Rwanda has continuously refuted these claims, it has been accused of aiding the Tutsi-led M23 rebels. Angola initially declared on Tuesday that it would mediate the direct negotiations.
The news was met with caution by the Congolese government, which has long opposed talks with M23. Officials simply stated that they had “taken note” of Angola’s mediation effort on Tuesday.
Congo President Felix Tshisekedi’s spokesperson, Tina Salama, told Reuters on Wednesday that the administration had been invited to the discussions but did not say if it would attend.
On the social media site X, M23 commander Bertrand Bisimwa asserted that the rebels had been successful in pressuring Tshisekedi to engage in talks. The negotiations, which have gotten more intense since January, are “the only civilised option to resolve the current crisis,” he said.
Congo cautious as M23 rebels claim negotiation victory
According to Reuters, a protracted conflict stemming from the aftermath of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and ongoing conflicts for control over Congo’s immense mineral resources has escalated as the M23 group has taken control of two major cities in eastern Congo during this time.
The United Nations humanitarian affairs office says that at least 600,000 people have been displaced since November, while the Congo’s government claims that at least 7,000 people have died in the violence since January.
With neighboring nations like South Africa, Burundi, and Uganda keeping troops in eastern Congo, regional tensions are still high. Fears of a wider regional conflict, such to the Congo wars of the 1990s and early 2000s, which claimed millions of lives, have been heightened by this.
Strategic minerals including coltan, cobalt, copper, and lithium—resources essential to the advancement of technology worldwide and the switch to renewable energy—are abundant in the Eastern Congo.
