The United States is promoting a deal that would require Rwanda to pull troops from eastern Congo before the two sides sign a peace agreement, a condition that is sure to rankle Kigali, which describes Congo-based armed groups as an existential threat.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is holding talks to end fighting in eastern Congo and bring billions of dollars of Western investment to the region, which is rich in minerals including tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium.
Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, told news agencies in May that Washington wanted a peace agreement finalised “within about two months”, an ambitious timeline for resolving a conflict with roots in the Rwandan genocide more than three decades ago.
A draft peace agreement seen by Reuters says a condition for signature is that Rwanda withdraws troops, weapons and equipment from Congo. The authenticity of the document, which is undated, was confirmed by four diplomatic sources, who said it was written by U.S. officials.
MUST READ:DR Congo, M23 rebels resume peace talks in Doha
The draft goes beyond a declaration of principles that the two countries’ foreign ministers signed at a ceremony in Washington in April with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. That document said the two sides would address any security concerns in a manner that respected each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Rwanda has sent between 7,000 and 12,000 soldiers to eastern Congo to support M23 rebels, analysts and diplomats said earlier this year, after the rebel group seized the region’s two largest cities in a lightning advance.
(Editor: Oloyede Oworu)
