Staff Reporter.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda have signed a US- and Qatar-brokered peace deal, raising hopes of ending renewed conflict – and opening US access to key minerals.
Meeting at the State Department in Washington, DC, on Friday, foreign ministers from the two African countries signed the agreement.
The deal would see Kinshasa and Kigali launching a regional economic integration framework within 90 days and forming a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days. Under its terms, thousands of Rwandan soldiers are to withdraw from the DRC within three months.
It raises hopes for an end to fighting that has escalated with the advance of Rwanda-backed M23 Rebels in the DRC’s mineral-rich provinces of North and South Kivu this year. The conflict has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more since January.
The escalation is just the latest in a decaded-old cycle of tensions and violence, rooted in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
“This moment has been long in coming. It will not erase the pain, but it can begin to restore what conflict has robbed many women, men and children of safety, dignity and a sense of future,” said Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner.
“So now our work truly begins,” she added at the signing, saying the agreement would have to be followed by “disengagement, justice, and the return of displaced families, and the return of refugees, both to the DRC and Rwanda”.
“Those who have suffered the most are watching. They are expecting this agreement to be respected, and we cannot fail them,” she said.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said that the agreement heralded a “turning point”.
While Rwanda denies accusations it is backing M23, Kigali has demanded an end to another armed group in the DRC – the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) – which was established by Hutus linked to the killings of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
During the signing, he insisted on “an irreversible and verifiable end” to the DRC’s “support” for the FDLR. The agreement calls for the “neutralisation” of the FDLR.
“Rwanda [is] always saying that they are not the ones who should ask M23 to leave, because this is a Congolese problem,” he said, adding that the rebels were appointing governors and controlling airports in the DRC’s provinces of North and South Kivu, whose capital cities they seized in January and February.
Kinshasa, the United Nations and Western powers say Rwanda is supporting M23 by sending troops and arms.
The deal does not explicitly address the gains of the M23 but calls for Rwanda to end “defensive measures” it has taken. Rwanda has sent at least a few thousand soldiers over the border in support of M23, according to UN experts, analysts and diplomats.
The DRC-Rwanda deal will also help the US government and American companies gain access to critical minerals like tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium needed for much of the world’s technology at a time when the US and China are actively competing for influence in Africa.
Source: Fullview and News Agencies.