Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have signed a peace agreement in Washington to end decades of devastating conflict between two neighboring countries and potentially grant the United States lucrative mineral access.
The deal calls for “disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration” among the armed groups of the Congolese Doctor.
Further details are scarce, and previous peaceful deals in the region failed – but that has not prevented the U.S. and Congolese presidents from seeing it as a victory passed down from generation to generation.
Last week, Donald Trump wrote on his truth social platform last week: “It’s a wonderful day for Africa and a wonderful day for the world!”
“Another diplomatic success of President Felix Tesscody – of course the most important in more than 30 years,” Congo’s presidential office said before signing on Friday.
The deal was signed by the Foreign Minister of the State Department of Congo and Rwanda.
Tshisekedi and Rwanda President Paul Kagame have been talking about traveling to Washington to meet Trump, although there is no fixed date.
Earlier this year, decades of conflict escalated when M23 rebels seized control of most of the Congo’s Doctor, including the regional capital, Goma, the city of Bukavo and two airports.
After the recent rebel attacks, thousands of people were killed and thousands of civilians were forced to be killed from their homes.
After the loss of territory, the Kinshasa government turned to the United States for help, and it was reported that critical minerals could be used in exchange for security assurance. Eastern Congo PhD is rich in aristocrats and other resources that are crucial to the global electronics industry.
Rwanda denies support for M23 Although there is a lot of evidenceAnd insisted that its military presence in the region was a defensive measure to resist threats posed by armed groups such as the FDLR – the rebel militia consisted primarily of the Hutus race associated with the 1994 rwandan Genatcide.
Rwanda in turn accuses the Congolese government of supporting the FDLR, and the Congolese doctor has denied the FDLR. Their presence is Kigali’s biggest concern.
Some information about the deal was released last weeka statement said “provisions on territorial integrity and prohibition of hostilities”, but without specific details.
It also talked about the “promotion of the return of refugees and internally displaced persons”.
According to a Reuters report, Congolese negotiators urge to evacuate Rwandan soldiers immediately,,,,, But Rwanda has at least 7,000 soldiers on Congolese soil – refused.
The day before the deal was signed, in an angry statement, Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe “Draft Peace Agreement” condemning Rwanda’s “requesting other parties to respect the confidentiality of the discussion”.
The call for Rwandan troops to withdraw from the Congo’s doctorate is the main point of the debate.
But Nduhungirehe said: “Rwandan Defence Force”, the term “Rwandan Army” or “withdrawal” is nowhere to be seen in the document.
Tshisekedi’s office said a few hours before the signing ceremony that the agreement “does stipulate the evacuation of Rwandan troops… (but) deviates from disengagement rather than evacuation simply because of the more comprehensive ‘disengagement’.”
Several key issues remain unresolved unless and until the full details of the signature transaction are published:
- Will the M23 rebel groups withdraw from the area they occupy?
- Does “respect for territorial integrity” mean that Rwanda acknowledges hiring troops in the eastern part of the Congo Doctors and will withdraw them?
- Will the agreed “refugee return” allow thousands of Congolese to return from Rwanda?
- Does “disarmament” mean that M23 will now put down their weapons?
- Who will disarm the FDLR after several attempts failed?
- Will the agreed humanitarian visit allow rebel-controlled airports to reopen for aid supply?
Before Friday’s signing, Rwanda government spokesman Yolande Makolo told Reuters news agency that “removing defense measures in our border areas” would depend on “neutralization” of the FDLR.
One of the main players in today’s conflict – the M23 Rebels – was spawned by a previous peace agreement 16 years ago that failed to secure evacuation by default.
Last year, experts from Rwanda and Congo reached a deal twice after mediation in Angola involving the evacuation of Rwandan troops and joint operations against the FDLR – but ministers from both countries failed to endorse the deal. Angola eventually resigned as mediator in March.
