The DRC has once again accused Rwanda adding the nation is obstructing negotiation talks with the M23 rebels, as per the nation’s Foreign minister, Therese Kayikwamba.
She made the remarks while addressing the UNSC on Tuesday after her Rwandan counterpart attributed the delay to Congo.
As tensions escalate in the troubled Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the government has accused Rwanda of obstructing the ongoing negotiations to resolve the M23 rebel conflict that has displaced more than 1.7 million people.
The comments by Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday come after Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe on October 5 affirmed that Congo had refused to sign a deal agreed in late August as part of peace talks mediated by Angola.
Recently, the two sides say they have agreed in principle to a plan that would see Congo « neutralise » the FDLR and Rwanda disengage. Kayikwamba underlined that the DRC had drawn up a plan for its side of the deal, but accused Rwanda of offering only a promise of withdrawal « with no guarantees or concrete details ».
She said Rwanda was also making its withdrawal conditional on Congo first dealing with the FDLR. « For this process to make sense, it is imperative that these two components be implemented in tandem, » she stated.
However in the talks, Rwanda’s rejection of any clause in the peace agreement that would refer to Rwandan responsibility in the conflict and Congo’s insistence on the need for a regional justice mechanism. Talks have been ongoing with the next minister-level meeting slated in Luanda within the next couple of days, an Angolan representative told the U.N. council.
