Africa-Press – Angola. The meeting in Luanda, which yesterday brought together the heads of diplomacy from Angola, Téte António, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Christophe Lutundula, and from Rwanda, Vicent Biruta, proposed maintaining the mechanism for dialogue and political consultation between the authorities of the two countries, as a way to overcome the crisis that opposes the parties.
The information is contained in the final communiqué of the meeting, which took place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and lasted all day, presented by the head of Angolan diplomacy, at the end of the joint audience that the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, granted, in the evening, to the representatives of the DRC and Rwanda, in Cidade Alta.
Téte António said that the communiqué also highlights the definition of a timetable to accelerate the implementation of the aforementioned roadmap and the commitments assumed by the parties, within the framework of the meeting of the Permanent Joint Commission between the DRC and Rwanda, held in Luanda, in 20 and 21 July of this year, aspects of which, as you underlined, were taken into account in a document prepared by the summit.
He added that it was also agreed to immediately deploy the Ad-Hoc Verification Mechanism, in Goma, a city in the DRC, and that the heads of the Intelligence Services should continue with the discussions, in order to implement the maintenance of the dialogue and consultation mechanism. policy between the authorities of the two countries.
“The ministers pledged to continue the efforts for an encouraging evolution on the ground and to prepare the next summit”, stressed Téte António. The Angolan Foreign Minister referred that the tripartite meeting proposed holding coordination meetings, at all levels, between the Luanda and Nairobi processes, having recommended that the mediation take the necessary steps in this regard.
Téte António said that the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the DRC and Rwanda thanked the Government and the Angolan people. The diplomats thanked the Head of State, João Lourenço, who is currently chairing the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL), for his availability and engagement in this process.
“They conveyed the message of their counterparts in the DRC and Rwanda, who renewed confidence in their mediation”, stressed Minister Téte António. The tripartite meeting was held at the invitation of the Government, within the scope of Angolan mediation for the normalization of bilateral relations, following the deterioration of the security crisis in eastern DRC, as well as the restoration of a climate of trust between the two countries.
Audience with Head of State
The Head of State, João Lourenço, granted a joint audience to the ministers of Foreign Affairs of the DRC and Rwanda, in Cidade Alta, with whom he analyzed the climate of tension between the two countries. The tripartite ministerial meeting, which was preceded by the meeting of the Foreign Intelligence and Military Security Services, had as main objective to relaunch the dialogue between the authorities of the DRC and Rwanda, as well as to resume the process of implementation of the Luanda Roadmap, of 6 of July this year.
Speaking last Wednesday at the Meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly of the African Union (AU), held by videoconference, President João Lourenço considered the events on the border between the DRC and Rwanda worrying and insisted that dialogue is the only way for the parties to overcome the current tense climate.
“The parties must dialogue”, highlighted President João Lourenço, recognizing, however, that there is currently no environment for the DRC and Rwanda to dialogue at the level of Heads of State.
On the occasion, the Head of State expressed his satisfaction at the fact that another step has been taken towards the solution of this conflict, which, as he said, places two brother countries on opposite sides.
President João Lourenço called for joint efforts to put an end to the growing tension between the two countries. He said he was aware that the Rwandan ambassador to the DRC was expelled by the authorities in Kinshasa.
After regretting the situation, he informed that the DRC is “very sorry” about what is happening in its own territory, having therefore urged maximum restraint in the measures to be taken by the two countries. “The door to dialogue must always be open to all levels (intelligence services, military, diplomacy and the Heads of State themselves”, he said at the time.
Angola presides over the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL), a geographic block to which the Democratic Congo belongs. In this capacity, the Angolan Head of State has carried out several initiatives to achieve peace in various parts of the continent. The rise in tension between the neighboring DRC and Rwanda, countries on the Great Lakes, took the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo to Angola at the beginning of last June.
Tension between the DRC and Rwanda has increased in recent months, after the resumption in March of fighting between the DRC army and the M23 movement, which according to the Kinshasa authorities is supported by the neighboring country.
Intelligence services assess situation on the ground
Delegations from the Intelligence Services of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, yesterday, in Luanda, assessed the situation on the common border, where there were movements of forces that increased the climate of tension between neighboring countries.
The high-level meeting of the Intelligence Services was chaired by the Minister of State and Head of the Military House of the President of the Republic, General Francisco Furtado, and was attended by the director of the Angolan Foreign Intelligence Services (SIE), the general administrator the National Intelligence Agency of the DRC (ANR), the Secretary General of the National Security and Intelligence Services of Rwanda (NISS) and the Commander of the Ad Hoc Verification Mechanism.
The Head of State and Acting President of the International Conference on Peace in the Great Lakes Region, João Lourenço, announced that the meeting in Luanda, held yesterday, was agreed with the DRC and Rwanda with the purpose of “for the parties to assess, from a technical point of view, what is actually happening on the ground”.
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