Africa-Press – Rwanda. DR Congo’s President Felix has said he will not endorse “any dialogue outside” his country and that he will not be “distracted by political initiatives” mediated by other actors.
The latest comments by the Congolese leader, who’s been fighting the M23 rebels for over three years, might frustrate initiatives his government has signed up to, such as the Washington peace agreement and the Doha Peace Process.
Tshisekedi said this on Saturday, August 30, at a congress of the ruling coalition Union Sacree, in the capital Kinshasa, following weeks of renewed fighting in the east of the country, where the AFC/M23 rebels control swathes of territory.
The Washington-brokered peace agreement signed with Rwanda in late June is in its implementation phase and the Qatar-mediated talks resumed on August 19 after Kinshasa and the rebels missed the August 18 deadline to sign a peace agreement.
“The Congolese do not need a facilitator,” Tshisekedi told the cheerful members of his coalition.
The president, who has previously been accused of frustrating regional peace initiatives and turning down the rebels’ calls for dialogue, took a rather belligerent position. Starting in April this year, the Doha peace talks — the first direct negotiations with the rebels in over three years — had offered hope for a peaceful resolution of the conflict that has been going on for three decades.
“We must fight until our last breath,” said Tshisekedi, alleging that the rebels are supported by neighbours.
“There will never be any dialogue outside of our own initiative.”
He added: “All these good intentions striving to help us dialogue among Congolese, that’s fine, thank you for that, but I believe they have bigger fish to fry. Let them leave us to manage the problems of the Congo among Congolese.”
Tshisekedi’s remarks come weeks after hostilities in South and North Kivu provinces. The rebels accuse Tshisekedi’s government of failing to implement the Declaration of Principles for peace signed in Doha on July 19. They demand that the government release prisoners and respect the ceasefire.
Bertand Bisimwa, the deputy coordinator of the AFC/M23 rebels, said the president’s position continues to affect peace talks and the situation on the ground.
“The contempt expressed by Mr. Tshisekedi towards the Doha dialogue explains the outbreak today of the generalized war on all front lines and the unbearable climate of hatred and xenophobia that is currently making our populations insecure in the city of Uvira,” Bisimwa wrote in a post on X on Sunday morning.
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