The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Felix Tshisekedi has agreed to meet his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame to discuss ways of resolving the ongoing conflict in the east of his country. The two leaders have been at loggerheads over the insurgency of the M23 rebels that has claimed hundreds of lives and displaced more than a million people in eastern DRC since 2021.
After months of threatening to declare a war against Rwanda, the President of the DRC has toned down the rhetoric.
A statement by the Angolan foreign ministry says Tshisekedi has agreed to hold talks with Kagame to address the conflict in Eastern DRC.
The revelation was made after a meeting between the DRC president and his Angolan counterpart Joao Lourenco. The African Union (AU) tasked the Angolan leader to facilitate the meeting between the two leaders to avoid an all-out war between their countries.
Relations between the DRC and Rwanda have been strained by the resurgence of the M23 rebels in eastern DRC. Congolese authorities accuse Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels in order to plunder its minerals.
Rwanda has denied the charge and blamed the DRC for backing a Rwandan militia known as FDLR that seeks to topple its government.
An investigation conducted by UN experts last year found that both countries were supporting rebels.
The fighting between government forces and the M23 rebels has intensified and forced more than 140,000 people to flee their homes in recent weeks.
There are fears that the clashes may widen into a regional conflict with the deployment of troops from the Southern African regional bloc, SADC, fighting alongside the DRC army.
The UN Security Council recently held an emergency meeting and called for immediate actions to reduce tensions between the DRC and Rwanda.
Conflict in DRC | Felix Tshisekedi agrees to meet Paul Kagame:
– Reporting by Chris Ocamringa
