Africa-Press – Angola. The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, discussed this Wednesday, in Luanda, with his counterpart from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Félix Antoine Tshisekedi, the evolution of the security and peace process in the East of this country, which lives an internal armed conflict.
Félix Tshisekedi, who was in Luanda for a few hours, spoke with President João Lourenço, among other matters, about aspects of the cantonment of the M23 forces, according to the understandings reached within the framework of the mediation exercised by the Angolan Head of State.
The Angolan mediation of the conflict in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) resulted in a ceasefire agreement in that region, since March 7 this year.
The Angolan National Assembly approved last month, at the request of the President of the Republic, unanimously, the sending of a contingent of 500 soldiers from the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) to the DRC.
The staff, who are expected to remain in that country for 12 months, will be made up of a battalion of the FAA and their respective components, as well as financial means estimated at AOA 11,266 million and 872,000 kwanzas, which should be reallocated within the framework of the Defense sector budget. and security.
The Angolan mission must secure the cantonment areas for the M23 elements and protect the members of the Ad-Hoc verification mechanism, following the ceasefire between government troops and the rebels.
At a mini-summit on peace and security in the Great Lakes region, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 17 February 2023, the African Heads of State and Government mandated” Angola, in coordination with the former President of Kenya, Uhuru Kennyatta, a facilitator appointed by the East Africa Commission, to liaise with the leadership of the rebel group March 23 Movement (M23).
The M23 was created in 2012 when DRC soldiers revolted over the loss of power of their leader, Bosco Ntaganda, prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and for alleged breaches of the peace agreement of March 23, 2009, which gives the movement its name.
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