Africa-Press – Angola. The summit on the crisis between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), initially scheduled for Monday (21) in Luanda, was postponed to Thursday.
The meeting is aimed at finding ways to overcome the crisis between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), generated by the resurgence of the armed rebellion of the M23, in eastern Congo.
The meeting was convened by the Angolan President, João Lourenço, in his capacity as the African Union (AU) mediator in the conflict, to approve an Action Plan for Peace in the DRC and the “reestablishment of good relations” between the two neighboring countries in the region. of the Great Lakes.
To participate in the meeting, João Lourenço invited his counterparts Paul Kagamé, from Rwanda, Félix Tshisékédi, from the DRC and Évariste Ndayishimiye, from Burundi, as well as the former Kenyan Head of State, Uhuru Kenyatta, as a peace facilitator designated by the Community of States of East Africa (EAC).
Burundi is one of the neighboring countries of the DRC, which, since last August, has deployed a military contingent in the Congolese province of South Kivu, within the framework of the EAC regional force, created last June to help fight armed groups in territory Congolese.
The Action Plan to be approved at the next meeting results from a proposal by the Angolan mediator to adapt the Luanda Peace Roadmap to the new reality registered on the ground since the end of last October, with the intensification of fighting in the Kivu region. North.
The proposal was presented by João Lourenço to Rwanda and the DRC, during his last trip to these two countries, between 11 and 12 November this year, following the worsening of violence on the common border, with the resumption of military actions by the M23 .
The latest reports on the ground point to an advance by the rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23) towards Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, after violent clashes with units of the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and the capture of new locations by the rebels.
The same reports place the battle for control of this Congolese commercial hub, about 76 square kilometers in area and 250,000 inhabitants on the border with Rwanda, about 20 kilometers from Goma.
The clashes have already killed and injured several civilians, as well as hundreds of thousands of displaced people and refugees in neighboring Uganda, in the midst of a serious humanitarian situation.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA), an estimated 262,000 people have been displaced and 7,000 refugees since the start of fighting last March between the FARD and the M23 rebels.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
