M23 Rebels on Monday pulled out peace talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government less than 24 hours before the warring parties in eastern Congo’s worst conflict in decades were due to convene in Angola.
The rebel alliance, of which M23 is a member, said it was withdrawing from what could have been the two sides’ first direct negotiations because of European Union sanctions imposed earlier in the day against M23 and Rwandan officials.
Tina Salama, a spokesperson for Tshisekedi, said after the M23’s withdrawal that the government delegation would travel to Luanda anyway.
“We confirm our participation at the invitation of the mediators,” she told Reuters.
The conflict, which is rooted in the fallout from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and competition for mineral riches, has quickly spiralled since January.
M23 fighters have captured eastern Congo’s two largest cities, with thousands of people killed and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes.
The United Nations and international powers accuse Rwanda of providing arms and sending soldiers to fight with the ethnic Tutsi-led M23. Rwanda says its forces are acting in self defence against Congo’s army and militias hostile to Kigali.
SANCTIONS
The European Union sanctions were some of the most expansive to hit the M23 and Rwanda since the rebels stepped up their advance earlier this year.
Zobel Behalal, a senior expert at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, said they were notable in going after Rwanda’s mines board and a gold refinery.
“The EU sanctions … are a recognition that profits from natural resources are one of the main motivations for Rwanda’s involvement in this conflict,” Behalal
“The EU sanctions … are a recognition that profits from natural resources are one of the main motivations for Rwanda’s involvement in this conflict,” Behalal said.
Rwanda’s government spokesperson, the mines board and the gold refinery did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
In its statement, the M23’s Congo River Alliance said international actors had adopted an “incomprehensible and ambiguous stance.”
“Successive sanctions imposed on our members, including those enacted on the eve of the Luanda discussions, severely undermine direct dialogue and make any progress impossible,” it said.
Earlier in the day, Rwanda had hit out at Belgium, which has called for strong EU action against Kigali by severing diplomatic relations and giving Belgian diplomats 48 hours to leave.
Afticanews/Shakirat Sadiq
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