The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels on Wednesday pledged in statements released after talks in Qatar to work towards peace after violence flared in January, raising fears of a wider regional war.
Their agreement to the text raised a glimmer of hope the latest cycle of violence in a decades-long conflict rooted in the Rwandan genocide might ease. But sources in the two delegations expressed frustration over the pace of negotiations.
Each side released the same statement separately after their delegations departed Qatar earlier in the week, following more than a week of discussions.
“Both parties reaffirm their commitment to an immediate cessation of hostilities, a categorical rejection of any hate speech, intimidation, and call on local communities to uphold these commitments”, the statement said.
The statement described their talks as “frank and constructive”, but it was unclear if or when another round of talks would take place.
M23 has staged an unprecedented advance since January, seizing eastern Congo’s two largest cities in an assault that has killed thousands and raised fears of a wider regional war.
The latest peace push by Qatar comes after the Gulf state successfully brokered a surprise meeting last month between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Both leaders called for a ceasefire after the meeting.
The session apparently paved the way towards direct talks between Congo and M23. Congo had long rejected the idea of holding talks with M23, branding it a terrorist group.
Rwanda in turn has long denied helping M23, saying its forces are acting in self defence against Congo’s army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed around 1 million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis.
Congo’s position is supported by the United Nations and Western governments, who say Rwanda is supporting the rebels by sending troops and arms.
Some participants in the Qatar talks complained the meetings quickly bogged down in technical details.
Sources from both sides said potential confidence-building measures such as the release of Congo-held prisoners accused of links to Rwanda and M23 inflamed tensions and almost derailed the outcome.
“They are asking for too much. They don’t even control two of the 26 provinces,” a Congo government source said. “Our justice system is independent. We cannot give in to every whim. Crimes have been committed. Some people must pay.”
A source from the rebel coalition that includes M23 said the parties left Doha when the disagreements over confidence-building measures became an unsurmountable obstacle to substantive talks.
Ultimately however, diplomats briefed on the talks said, Qatar managed to pressure the two sides into releasing a joint statement agreeing to continue to work on a truce.
“This is a crucial step towards ending the violence,” Maxime Prevot, Belgium’s foreign affairs minister, said Wednesday on X.
A United Nations source told Reuters on Wednesday that fighting had resumed in the Congolese territory of Walikale.
M23 withdrew from Walikale town, a strategic mining hub, earlier this month, a move it described as a goodwill gesture ahead of planned peace talks with the government.
