BSS
  02 Feb 2025, 16:33

Rwanda 'welcomes' proposed joint regional summit on DRC conflict

    
NAIROBI, Feb 2, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Rwanda welcomed on Sunday calls for a joint 
regional summit over the escalating conflict in DR Congo.

The M23 armed group, that the UN and several nations say is backed by Rwanda, 
have made substantial gains in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, taking 
the major city of Goma and vowing to march on the capital.

It is the latest escalation in a mineral-rich region bedevilled by decades of 
fighting involving dozens of armed groups, and has rattled the continent with 
regional blocs holding emergency summits over the spiralling tensions.

The 16-nation South African Development Community on Friday called for a 
summit with the eight-country East African Community to "deliberate on the 
way forward regarding the security situation in the DRC".

The Rwandan foreign ministry said it "welcomes the proposed joint summit", 
adding in a statement it had "consistently advocated for a political solution 
to the ongoing conflict".

The SADC emergency session was not attended by President Paul Kagame of 
Rwanda -- which is not a member of the bloc -- but Congolese leader Felix 
Tshisekedi was present virtually.

Earlier in the week, Kagame appeared at an EAC emergency session when the DR 
Congo president was absent.

The SADC meeting was convened after soldiers from two member states, South 
Africa and Malawi, were killed in the Goma fighting.

They were part of the bloc's peacekeeping force, known as SAMIDRC (Southern 
African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo).

In Sunday's statement, Rwanda's foreign ministry criticised the presence of 
the force in DR Congo, saying it should "not be there because they are adding 
to the problems that already existed".

Kagame has made similar remarks previously.

While Rwanda has never admitted to military involvement in support of the M23 
group a United Nations expert report last July said it had roughly 4,000 
troops in eastern DR Congo, and accused Kigali of having "de facto" control 
over the group.

Rwanda alleges that DR Congo supports and shelters the FDLR, an armed group 
created by former Hutu leaders who massacred Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan 
genocide.