Kagame arrives in Washington ahead of peace deal signing

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Kagame arrives in Washington ahead of peace deal signing
Kagame arrives in Washington ahead of peace deal signing

Africa-Press – Rwanda. President Paul Kagame arrived in Washington, DC on Wednesday, December 3, where he is expected to meet US President Donald Trump.

The visit comes as Kagame and his DR Congo counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi, and host President Trump are due to sign a peace and economic agreement on Thursday.

The US-brokered accord promises to lay the foundation for peace and regional economic integration.

The agreement includes a formal Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for dismantling Kinshasa-backed FDLR and establishing a standing joint security coordination mechanism.

Rwanda says the existence of FDLR, a UN-sanctioned terrorist militia mainly comprised of remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against, is an existential threat to the region, pointing to its record of cross-border shellings, attacks on Congolese Tutsi communities, and its role in radicalising local militias.

It is part of a larger coalition of the Congolese army (FARDC) that is fighting in the restive eastern DR Congo against the AFC/M23 rebels.

The collaboration between the Congolese military and the FDLR has long been at the centre of tensions between Kigali and Kinshasa.

Thursday’s summit builds on months of American and Qatari mediation and follows a sequence of agreements that have struggled to hold on the ground as hostilities have continued amid talks.

It follows the sign of the June 27 peace agreement between Rwanda and DR Congo in Washington and the November 15 signing of a peace framework between the Congolese government and the AFC/M23 in Doha.

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