Rwandan FM says Congo refused to sign deal to ease conflict

By News Desk
October 06, 2024
Congolese people carry their belongings as they flee from their villages around Sake in Masisi territory, following clashes between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC); towards Goma, North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo February 7, 2024. — REUTERS
Congolese people carry their belongings as they flee from their villages around Sake in Masisi territory, following clashes between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC); towards Goma, North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo February 7, 2024. — REUTERS

PARIS: Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on Saturday his Congolese counterpart had refused to sign an agreed deal to help resolve the M23 rebel conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that has displaced over 1.7 million people.

The Tutsi-led M23 has been waging an insurgency in the central African country’s violence-torn east since 2022. Congo, the United Nations, and others accuse neighbouring Rwanda of backing the group with its own troops and weapons.

Rwanda, which denies supporting M23, says it has taken what it calls defensive measures and accuses Congo of fighting alongside a Hutu rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which has attacked Tutsis in both countries.

Both countries participated in negotiations in late August aimed at easing the conflict, which has deepened the region’s long-running humanitarian crisis and at times raised fears of a wider war.