Congo and Rwanda will sign peace deal on June 27, a major step in ending
fighting in eastern Congo
[June 19, 2025]
By WILSON MCMAKIN
DAKAR,
Senegal (AP) — Congo and Rwanda will sign a peace agreement in
Washington on June 27, a joint press release from the nations and the
U.S. State Department said Wednesday. Both countries have agreed to the
terms of the deal aimed at ending fighting in eastern Congo. |
Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosts a signing ceremony in which Congo's
Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, left, and Rwanda's Foreign
Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe, right, pledge to work toward a peace deal
at the State Department in Washington, April 25, 2025. (AP
Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) |
|
Congo has accused Rwanda of backing M23 rebels in the east of
the country. U.N. experts say the rebels are supported by about
4,000 troops from the neighboring nation. Rwanda has denied
supporting M23.
The decades-long conflict escalated in January, when the M23
rebels advanced and seized the strategic Congolese city of Goma,
followed by the town of Bukavu in February.
The draft agreement includes "provisions on respect for
territorial integrity and a prohibition of hostilities;
disengagement, disarmament, and conditional integration of
non-state armed groups," the joint statement said.
The agreement that will be signed also includes a commitment to
respecting territorial integrity and the conditional integration
of non-state armed groups. Congo and Rwanda are not in a
declared war and the extent of Rwanda's direct control of M23 is
not certain.
Both countries have in the past held peace talks that have
largely stalled, including talks hosted by Qatar.
Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, a
coalition of rebel groups, told The Associated Press in April
that international sanctions and Congo’s proposed minerals deal
with the United States in search of peace would not stop the
fighting.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a
foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with
Rwanda. The conflict has created one of the world’s worst
humanitarian crises and has displaced more than 7 million
people.
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