By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A United Nations Security Council delegation on Sunday concluded a three-day fact-finding visit to DR Congo, with ambassadors stressing on the need to seek a political solution to end the lingering M23 rebel conflict.
France’s UN ambassador, Nicolas de Riviere, while briefing newsmen said the M23 rebel group which has seized swathes of territory in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province since re-emerging from dormancy in late 2021 must withdraw from the territory it occupies.
He also backed DRC’s position that the neighbouring Rwanda supports the M23 group, an allegation Kigali has repeatedly denied.
“It no longer needs to be demonstrated that Rwanda supports the M23”, he said, noting that Rwandan regulars were also making incursions into North Kivu.
De Riviere insisted that dialogue was the only way to solve the conflict.
“The way out of the crisis in this case can only be political, can only be through negotiations,” he said.
Gabon’s UN ambassador, Michel Xavier Biang while corroborating this position told journalists at a news conference that “diplomacy must prevail.”
The Security Council visit came after the collapse of an Angola-mediated cease-fire, which was due to take effect on Tuesday. Several previous peace initiatives have also failed.
Independent UN experts, the United States, France and several other Western states have also alluded that Rwanda supports the Tutsi-led group.
Fighting between Congolese forces and the M23 has displaced over 800,000 people, according to the UN.
The UN Security Council delegation arrived on Thursday in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, before traveling to Goma on Saturday.
The team met Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi. In Goma they had talks with local officials, civil leaders and toured a displaced persons’ camp.
