The Congo and Rwanda calls for a ceasefire in their deadly conflict

The leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda called for a ceasefire in the Eastern Congo in an attempt to end the deadly chapter in a three -decade conflict.

Presidents Felix Chesikdi committed to the Congo and Paul Kagame from Rwanda with a “immediate and unconditional endowment”, according to a joint statement issued with Qatar, where the two leaders gathered to attend an unannounced meeting on Tuesday.

They did not say how the ceasefire will be carried out or monitored. But the meeting was the most important step for leaders since then An armed group backed by RwandaThat is called M23, the seizure This started in January.

“This is the first time that a concrete statement came from both leaders,” said Uluul Ogwal, a researcher at the Institute of Security Studies that focus on Central Africa, in an interview.

Mr. Augawal said that the United States could have been in a position to collect peace talks, but given that it was not a priority for the Trump administration, Qatar intervened. But he said that the greatest failure of the African Union, whose efforts have not succeeded in combining the two leaders.

He said: “It seems now that the countries that actually have actually to bring the warring African leaders to the table are countries such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – which are located completely outside the beaches of the continent.”

The fighting in the eastern Congo has displaced more than 700,000 people since January, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, and killed thousands of others.

The sudden meeting of the leaders came a day after The European Union announced sanctions The Rwandan government and military officials must support the M23. Rwanda retaliated by cutting diplomatic relations with Belgium, a country that was one day the colonial ruler in both the Congo and Rwanda, which was a pioneering voice of the sanctions on Rwanda because of its participation in the conflict.

Mr. Tokible and MR. Undergear He said in the statement They wanted to “create strong foundations for permanent peace” in the eastern Congo, where three decades of fighting were killed on ethnic tensions and reaching land millions of people.

M23, a group created in 2012, armed and led the Rwanda Army, according to the United Nations, the United States and the European Union. Rwanda refuses to support the group and says that violence in the neighboring Congo threatens its security.

M23 now controls Goma and Bukavu, two main axes on the border with Rwanda.

Whether M23 will respond to the ceasefire calls still should be seen. He denied any affiliation with the Rwanda government, and canceled a meeting with the Congo government, which was also scheduled to be scheduled for Tuesday.

Neither the weak Congo Army nor international pressure, including unanimous condemnation from the United Nations Security Council, I managed to stop The group is offered. M23, which includes 6000 to 9,000 soldiers, according to United Nations estimates, now controls a Louisiana size area in the eastern gold and other metal Congo like Colin.