The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have held their first talks after signing a peace deal to end decades of deadly conflict in mineral-rich eastern Congo, the two African countries said on Friday.
Eastern DRC, a region bordering Rwanda with abundant natural resources, has been plagued by violence for more than three decades and the unrest has claimed thousands of lives.
On Thursday, “representatives from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Rwanda (Rwanda), along with observers” held their first meeting in Washington since signing a peace deal in the US capital on June 27, according to a joint statement released by both nations on social media on Friday.
The agreement was hailed as a significant milestone by the African Union and the United Nations and follows a long series of truces and ceasefires that have been systematically broken.
The deal outlines provisions for the “respect for territorial integrity and halting hostilities” in eastern DRC, which are still however to be implemented.
It also includes economic measures but has few details.
Violence intensified at the beginning of the year in the DRC’s volatile east with the capture of the major city of Goma by the M23 armed group and Rwandan troops in January, followed by Bukavu in February.
According to the Congolese government and the UN, the violence has left thousands dead and exacerbated a humanitarian crisis for hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
Since February, the front has stabilised. But violence continued between the M23 and a motley group of pro-Kinshasa militias engaged in guerrilla warfare.
The Rwandan-backed M23 armed group and Kinshasa also signed a declaration of principles in Qatar earlier this month, including a commitment to a permanent ceasefire.
Rwanda denies providing military support to the M23 but says its security has long been threatened by armed groups, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), established by ethnic Hutus linked to the massacres of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
The DRC is the world’s leading producer of cobalt and has deposits of gold and other valuable minerals including coltan, a metallic ore that is vital in making phones and laptops.
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© Agence France-Presse
