Latest News

Renewing fighting in eastern Congo as neighbours attempt to revive peace process

On Tuesday, M23 rebels backed by Rwanda in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo fought militiamen aligned with the government as regional countries sought to revive faltering peace efforts.

M23's rapid advance in eastern Congo since January has resulted thousands of deaths, and hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes.

Southern and East Africa have repeatedly made diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict, amid fears that it could spiral into an even larger regional war.

The latest setback in these efforts occurred on Monday, when the M23 rebels reneged on their pledge to withdraw from Walikale. They also accused the Congolese Army of failing to stop its offensive operations.

Residents said that Wazalendo, the pro-government militia fighters and rebels who are known as Wazalendo fought on Tuesday in North Kivu Province and South Kivu Province.

Muhindo Taffuteni, an activist from the local civil society, reported that in North Kivu, clashes continued to rage near the shores of Lake Edward which is located on the border of Congo and Uganda.

Residents in South Kivu said that fighting broke out in several towns north Bukavu (the provincial capital, which M23 captured last February), residents in South Kivu.

DIPLOMA REGIONAL

Leaders of the major political groups in Southern and Eastern Africa met on Monday in order to develop a plan that would secure a ceasefire. The conflict is rooted in the long-lasting fallout following the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda, and the competition over mineral resources.

They said in a later statement that they had nominated five former heads to facilitate the process of peace.

The nominees include Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa, Sahle Work Zewde from Ethiopia, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, and Catherine Samba Panza, Central African Republic.

The Congo's presidential office said that the new panel will name a mediator who will replace Angolan president Joao Lourenco. He resigned from his role as a mediator on Monday after years of trying to ease tensions in Rwanda and Congo.

The summit, according to Rwanda's government which has been sanctioned for its support of M23 by several Western countries, was "fruitful".

Rwanda denies that it supports M23, but says its forces acted in self-defence to defend themselves against the Congolese army and other militias hostile towards Kigali.

M23 claims that the only way to resolve the conflict is through negotiations between Kinshasa and the rebels.

Last week, Tshisekedi agreed to meet with M23 after dropping his refusal. However, the rebels retreated in protest of new European Union sanctions.

As regional countries met for peace talks, the danger of an escalation was not forgotten.

In an interview given to the BBC by President Evariste Ndayishimiye, who has fought alongside Congo's army in fighting M23, Ndayishimiye said that Rwanda was planning on attacking Burundi.

In a report that was published on Tuesday, he said: "Burundians won't accept being killed like Congolese." He added that he wanted the problem to be resolved through dialogue.

Burundi has long had tense relationships with Rwanda, but in the last few weeks officials from both sides met.

Yolande Makolo, Rwanda's spokesperson for the government, said: "These comments are shocking because Rwandan defence and security agencies have been meeting with Burundian counterparts to discuss ways to secure our shared borders." Reporting by Congo Newsroom, Writing by Hereward and Aaron Ross and Editing by Sharon Singleton & Angus MacSwan

(source: Reuters)