Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi landed Wednesday in Luanda, the capital of Angola, to attend a summit aimed at advancing the normalization of diplomatic relations with Rwanda and addressing the upsurge of fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The meeting has been convened by Angolan President João Lourenço, in his capacity as African Union (AU) mediator, and also seeks to address the upsurge in fighting between the Congolese army and the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23).
The meeting will also be attended by the President of Burundi, Évariste Ndayishimiye, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda, Vincent Biruta, as representative of the Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, as well as the former President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta – as mediator of the East African Community (EAC) -, as reported Wednesday by the Angop news agency.
The parties are expected to approve an Action Plan for Peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the resolution of diplomatic disputes between Kinshasa and Kigali, which have had several clashes in recent months over the situation in eastern DRC.
In recent weeks, Kenya has sent military personnel to North Kivu province (east) as part of an EAC mission to try to fight the rebels, efforts that will soon be joined by Ugandan soldiers, as confirmed by Kampala.
The M23 has been accused since November 2021 of carrying out attacks against DRC Army positions in North Kivu, seven years after the parties reached a truce. UN experts have accused Uganda and Rwanda of supporting the rebels, although both countries have denied this.
The conflict has also led to a diplomatic crisis between the DRC and Rwanda, which Kinshasa accuses of supporting the M23, although Kigali has rejected these claims and has accused its neighbor of allegedly supporting the rebel movement of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
