KINSHASA– The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels will hold talks next week.
A statement from Angola President Joao Lourenco’s office said the two parties would begin “direct peace negotiations” in the Angolan capital Luanda on March 18th 2025.
Angola has previously acted as a mediator in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo conflict that escalated in late January when the M23 took control of the strategic eastern Congo city of Goma and in February, M23 seized Bukavu, eastern Congo’s second-biggest city.
Rwanda denies backing the M23 armed group in the conflict, which is rooted in the spread of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide into Democratic Republicof Congo, and the struggle for control of vast mineral resources.
Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi was in Angola on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of talks and his spokesperson Tina Salama told journalists yesterday that the government had received an invitation from Angola but did not say whether it would participate in the talks.
Additional Reporting from Associated Press
