Armed Rebels and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, the government will hold peace negotiations in January in eastern DRC, the Community of East African States, EAC, announced on Tuesday.
This declaration was made at the conclusion of the third session of the “inter-Congolese dialogue,” which brought together representatives of some 50 armed factions, the government, and civil society for eight days in Nairobi.
Kinshasa refers to the M23 insurrection as a “terrorist” movement, and it is currently spearheading an offensive in the country’s east. It is not taking part in these conversations.
“A meeting will be held in January in Goma and Bunia to assess progress and begin to address the medium and long-term agenda,” the EAC, which is mediating the talks, said in a statement.
Participants also reiterated their agreement to a “continued cessation of hostilities as well as the release of child soldiers and humanitarian access,” the organisation added.
“We are pleased with the progress we have made. We are not saying that we have finished everything, but we have passed certain stages,” said, without further details, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is working as a “facilitator” of the Nairobi process.
“I hope that when we meet again in Goma – that should be between January and February – we can report on the progress on the points we agreed on here,” he added.
Armed groups and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) government will hold peace negotiations in January in eastern DRC, the Community of East African States (EAC) announced on Tuesday. This follows three earlier meetings in Kenya.
This declaration was made at the conclusion of the third session of the “inter-Congolese dialogue,” which brought together representatives of some 50 armed factions, the government, and civil society for eight days in Nairobi.
The DRC Government refers to the M23 insurrection as a terrorist movement and is currently spearheading an offensive in the country’s east. It is not taking part in these conversations.
Rwandan authorities contests this and claims Kinshasa is working with the FDLR, Hutu rebels from Rwanda who have been in the DR Congo since the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.