KEY POINTS
- M23 rebels withdraw from peace talks in protest of EU sanctions.
- DRC government confirms participation despite rebel pullout.
- Rwanda and Belgium engage in diplomatic dispute over the conflict.
 Less than twenty-four hours before the warring sides were scheduled to meet in Angola, Rwanda-backed M23 rebels withdrew from peace negotiations with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday.
M23 rebels withdraw from peace talks ahead of meeting
The M23-led rebel alliance withdrew, citing sanctions against M23 and Rwandan officials imposed by the European Union earlier that day. M23 is a member of the Congo River Alliance, which described the sanctions as an effort to “obstruct the much-anticipated talks.”
President Felix Tshisekedi has consistently rejected M23’s demands for direct talks with the Congolese government, claiming that M23 is only acting as a stand-in for Rwanda. In reaction to recent military losses and pressure from Angola, Tshisekedi changed his mind on Sunday and agreed to send a delegation to Luanda.
Tshisekedi confirms DRC government will attend peace talks
Tshisekedi spokesman Tina Salama affirmed the government’s involvement in spite of M23’s pullout. “We confirm our participation at the invitation of the mediators,” she said to Reuters.
Since January, the ongoing war has intensified due to rivalry over mineral resources and the aftermath of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. Two of the biggest cities in eastern Congo have been taken by M23 militants, leaving hundreds of thousands of people displaced and thousands dead.
Rwanda is accused by the UN and other international organizations of arming and sending troops to help M23, an organization dominated by ethnic Tutsis. Rwanda disputes the charges, claiming that its troops are protecting Kigali from the Congo’s army and anti-Kigali rebels.
Since the rebels stepped up their offensive early this year, the European Union has imposed some of the most severe sanctions against M23 and Rwanda. The sanctions were directed at a gold refinery and Rwanda’s mining board, according to Zobel Behalal, a senior expert with the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.
“The EU sanctions are a recognition that profits from natural resources are one of the main motivations for Rwanda’s involvement in this conflict,” Behalal stated to Reuters.
Requests for response from Reuters were not answered by the gold refinery, the mining board, or the Rwandan government.
Belgium was accused by Rwanda of employing “lies and manipulation” to foster a “unjustified hostile opinion” of Rwanda, leading Rwanda to terminate diplomatic ties with the country. In response, Rwandan diplomats were declared persona non grata by Belgium, the former colonial authority in both Rwanda and Congo, which referred to Kigali’s action as “disproportionate.”
