Former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta held a meeting on Thursday with a delegation of the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23) to discuss a possible solution to the situation in North Kivu.
Kenyatta, in his capacity as facilitator of the East African Community (EAC) Peace Process for Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), met with Bertrand Bisimwa, one of the leaders of the rebel movement, as well as other senior leaders of the M23, the former president’s office said in a statement.
The meeting, which took place in the Kenyan city of Mombasa, is in line with the ongoing peace dialogue led by EAC in Nairobi between various Congolese armed groups and the DRC government, aimed at restoring peace and security in the east of the country.
The meeting comes a week after the M23 confirmed it would withdraw from the eastern Congolese town of Rumangabo, which has a strategic military base, after seizing it in October as part of its offensive in the area.
The M23 has been accused since November 2021 of carrying out attacks against Army positions in North Kivu, despite the Congolese authorities and the M23 signed in December 2013 a peace agreement following fighting since 2012 with the Army, which was supported by UN troops.
The situation has led to a spike in tensions between DRC and Rwanda as Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the rebels. UN experts stated in a recent report that the Rwandan authorities maintain a «direct intervention» in the African country through their support to the group.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
