KIGALI, Rwanda — President Paul Kagame of Rwanda urged Congolese authorities Thursday to negotiate with a violent rebel group that has seized key towns in eastern Congo in recent days, widening its control over the region which borders Rwanda.
M23 is the most prominent of the more than 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in the mineral-rich area near the Congolese border with Rwanda where more than 1 million people were displaced by fighting last year. Last month it captured the towns of Katale and Masisi, the latter located 80 kilometers (49 miles) west of the regional capital, Goma, a strategic entry point into the Congolese interior.
Kagame told reporters in the Rwandan capital of Kigali that failure to talk directly to M23 rebels means an unwillingness to find a political solution to the conflict.
“There has to be an effort to continue finding a solution,” Kagame said. “The solution lies in internal political process, or dialogue.”
Congo accuses Rwanda of backing M23 and has repeatedly rejected Kagame’s advice to negotiate with the rebels. United Nations experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.
The rebel group rose to prominence a decade ago when its fighters seized Goma, which borders Rwanda. It derives its name from a March 23, 2009, peace deal it accuses the Congolese government of not implementing. After lying largely dormant for a decade, M23 resurfaced in late 2021 and has since captured wide swathes of territory in eastern Congo.
In July Congo signed a ceasefire with M23 that came into effect in August. But fighting has resumed, with the U.S. saying it was “gravely concerned” by ceasefire violations by M23 rebels.
In addition to negotiating with the M23 leadership, Kagame said Congolese authorities also must deal with the threat to Rwandan national security stemming from the presence in Congo of another armed group, known by its initials in French as the FLDR.
Rwandan authorities say the FDLR, whose members include alleged perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, is embedded into the Congolese army.
“The FDLR question has to be answered,” Kagame said, accusing Congo of persecuting its own people and causing them to become refugees in Rwanda.
M23’s rebellion has caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in Congo’s North Kivu province in recent years. While M23 leaders say they are committed to protecting civilians, their attempts to take towns cause widespread panic and fear as locals flee.
Last February the U.S. State Department for the first time publicly described the M23 as a “Rwanda-backed” armed group, and urged Rwanda “to immediately withdraw all Rwanda Defense Force personnel from the (Congo) and remove its surface-to-air missile systems.”
U.N. experts previously said they had “solid evidence” that members of Rwanda’s armed forces were conducting operations there in support of the M23.
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Muhumuza reported from Kampala, Uganda.
