LUANDA: Angola will step down from its position as a mediator between parties involved in an escalating Rwanda-backed rebel offensive in eastern Congo, the presidency said on Monday, with another African state set to lead efforts to get peace talks back on track.
The ethnic Tutsi-led M23 escalated their long-standing rebellion this year, seizing east Congo’s two biggest cities since January and encroaching into territory rich in minerals such as gold and tantalum.
As the current rotating African Union Chairperson, Angola’s President Joao Lourenco had been trying to mediate a lasting ceasefire and lower tensions between Congo and neighboring Rwanda, which has been accused of backing M23. Rwanda denies this.
Congo and M23 were scheduled to hold direct talks for the first time in Angola’s capital, Luanda, last week after Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi, who had long refused dialogue with the rebels, agreed to send a delegation.
M23 pulled out at the last minute, following EU sanctions against M23 and Rwandan officials.
“Angola considers the need to free itself from the responsibility of the mediator of this conflict” to “devote itself more” to the AU’s overall priorities, the presidency said in a statement that mentioned the “aborted” meeting in Luanda.
The statement said another head of state will be appointed to the task in the coming days.
There have been several attempts to resolve the conflict, rooted in the fallout from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and competition for mineral riches, including several ceasefires that were violated, international condemnations, sanctions, and regional summits.
The regional blocs of southern and eastern Africa will hold a second joint summit to address the crisis.
Kenya’s President William Ruto and Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa will co-chair the virtual event.
M23 last week dismissed a joint call for an immediate ceasefire by Congo and Rwanda.
It reiterated demands for direct talks with Kinshasa, saying it was the only way to resolve the conflict.
A de facto ceasefire between Congolese forces and the rebels in the eastern town of Walikale appeared to have broken down on Monday, with the insurgents going back on a pledge to withdraw and accusing the army of violating its commitments.
Lawrence Kanyuka, the spokesperson for M23’s Congo River Alliance rebel coalition, accused the army and allied militias of not withdrawing their attack drones from Walikale.
“This situation delays the repositioning of M23 forces in the zone,” he wrote on X.
A civil society source and a resident in Walikale said on Monday that M23 rebels were still in the town.
