DAKAR, Senegal — In a significant diplomatic engagement, the leaders of Congo and Rwanda convened in Qatar on Tuesday for their first face-to-face dialogue since earlier this year when the M23 rebels, supported by Rwanda, seized two crucial cities in the mineral-rich eastern part of Congo.
Organized by Qatar, the discussions between Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame revolved around the insurgency. A joint statement from the three governments accompanied the meeting. Qatar’s national news agency released an image capturing the two presidents with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the ruler of Qatar, a country rich in energy resources.
The leaders of Congo and Rwanda expressed their mutual commitment to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, though the statement did not detail how the ceasefire would be put into practice or monitored.
This summit follows the breakdown of a previous initiative intended to bring the Congolese government and the M23 leaders together for ceasefire talks, which fell apart when the rebels withdrew following the European Union’s sanctions on the group’s leaders.
Qatar has a history of hosting peace negotiations, having facilitated dialogues between the Taliban and the United States, Chad and its rebel forces, as well as discussions linked to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
A diplomat with knowledge of the meeting mentioned that both Tshisekedi and Kagame requested Qatari mediation formally. The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, characterized the talks as informal, with a focus on building trust rather than immediate conflict resolution.
Previous peace talks between Congo and Rwanda were unexpectedly halted in December when Rwanda made the signing of a peace agreement contingent upon a direct dialogue between Congo and the M23 rebels, a condition Congo rejected.
The situation in eastern Congo worsened when Rwanda-backed rebels captured the strategic city of Goma in January, advancing further to take control of Bukavu by February.
M23 is among nearly 100 armed factions competing to dominate the mineral-abundant eastern Congo near the Rwandan border. This ongoing conflict has contributed to one of the world’s gravest humanitarian crises, displacing over 7 million people.
The rebel group, supported by approximately 4,000 troops from Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, has at times expressed intentions to march all the way to Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, which lies roughly 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the east.
The U.N. Human Rights Council has recently established a commission to probe allegations of atrocities, including incidences of rape and executions without due process, attributed to both warring parties.
