An agreement has been reached for an
"immediate ceasefire"
as of Friday evening in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday evening after a mini-summit in Luanda.
Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi notably met in the Angolan capital with Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta, in the absence of President Paul Kagame, to try to put an end to recent tensions in eastern DRC and after the failure of a previous ceasefire agreement reached in July.
The parties agreed to demand the withdrawal of the M23 rebels
"from the occupied areas"
and their
"retreat to their initial positions"
, said Minister Tete Antonio, at the end of the meeting which lasted all after midday.
The ceasefire is due to come into effect Friday at 6:00 p.m. local time.
They also endorsed the
"continuation of the full deployment of the regional force"
of the East African Community (EAC, EAC in English) decided in June.
"Initially Kenya will deploy its contingents in Goma, and then in Bunagan, Rutshuru and Kiwanja",
specifies the final communiqué.
Rebels near Goma
"If the M23 refuses to disengage and liberate all the territories they currently occupy, the EAC Heads of State will instruct the regional force to use force to induce them to submit"
, adds the text of the statement. 'OK.
Prior to these talks, members of the United Nations Security Council had called on Tuesday for an end to the fighting, the withdrawal of the M23 from occupied areas and an end to
"all external support to non-state armed actors, including the M23".
In Luanda, the delegations were received by the Angolan President and mediator appointed by the African Union, Joao Lourenço.
Eastern DRC has been plagued by violence from armed groups for nearly 30 years, many inherited from wars that bloodied the region in the wake of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. After a lull, the region is experiencing renewed tensions since late October.
The rebels of the M23 (“Movement of March 23”), a former Tutsi rebellion which took up arms again at the end of 2021, accusing Kinshasa of not having respected agreements on the demobilization of its fighters, took ground by advancing on Goma.
The DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting this rebellion, which Kigali systematically disputes.
Kinshasa said on Tuesday that it was
"out of the question"
to discuss with the rebels of the M23 before their withdrawal from the areas they occupy in the east of the country.
“The conditions are known: you withdraw from the occupied localities and at that time, we take stock to see how to integrate you into the process as planned at the start
,” said the government spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya.
A ceasefire had been concluded in July in Luanda.
But the agreement between the heads of state of the two neighboring countries was immediately violated on the ground.
The Burundian Head of State, also President of the EAC, Évariste Ndayishimiye, was present in Luanda as well as the former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, as an EAC facilitator for peace in the DRC.
The seven countries of the organization - Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, DRC, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania - decided in June to send a regional force currently being deployed.
