By Oyintari Ben
The M23 rebel group has called for “direct discussion” with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government while claiming that a truce proclaimed the previous day “doesn’t actually concern us.”
Wednesday’s mini-summit in the capital of Angola was attended by the President of the DRC, Felix Tshisekedi, and the Foreign Minister f Rwanda, Vincent Biruta.
Congolese Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula stated: “Tomorrow, 6:00 pm, the M23 must stop all its attacks” during a media briefing in Kinshasa on Thursday.
M23 rebels had been dormant for years, but they resumed fighting late last year. Kinshasa has believed that Rwanda, which disputes the claims, has actively supported the M23 rebels from the beginning.
The Nord-Kivu province of the DRC has saw significant rebel gains north of Goma, the provincial capital.
The Luanda mini-summit came to an agreement on the halt of hostilities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo starting on Friday evening, followed by the M23 rebels’ “return to their initial positions” and their departure from “occupied zones.”
The agreement said that if the rebels refuse, the east African regional army stationed in Goma “would employ force” to drive them out.
The rebels, according to Kanyuka, believed their “unilateral ceasefire” from April was still in effect.
“If the government doesn’t attack us, we will still be there,” he stated, referring to tomorrow at 6:00 pm (1600 GMT).
Aside from that, “we are defending ourselves,” he declared.
In order to address the underlying causes of conflicts, he continued, “We are always ready for a direct engagement with the Congolese administration.”
As long as the M23 group is occupying territory in the DRC, the Kinshasa administration, which refers to it as a “terrorist movement,” has refused to negotiate with it.
Lutundula declined to engage in direct discussions with the M23 group in response to questions.
