“The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda on Friday signed a peace deal facilitated by the U.S. to help end the decades-long deadly fighting in eastern Congo while helping the U.S. government and American companies gain access to critical minerals in the region,” reports the Associated Press.
More than six million people have died in the eastern Congo since 1996 in conflicts there, with insurgents backed by Rwanda fighting against Congo’s central government in civil wars.
The Associated Press reports:
“Today, the violence and destruction comes to an end, and the entire region begins a new chapter of hope and opportunity, harmony, prosperity and peace,” President Donald Trump told the foreign ministers of the two countries at a White House meeting.
The agreement was signed earlier at the State Department’s Treaty Room…There, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it “an important moment after 30 years of war.”
The Central African nation of Congo has been wracked by conflict with more than 100 armed groups, the most potent backed by Rwanda, that has killed millions since the 1990s.
While the deal is seen as a turning point, analysts don’t believe it will quickly end the fighting because the most prominent armed group says it does not apply to it….
Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner invoked the millions of victims of the conflict in signing the agreement with Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe. Both expressed optimism but stressed significant work still to do to end the fighting….Nduhungirehe noted the “great deal of uncertainty” because previous agreements were not put in place. “There is no doubt that the road ahead will not be easy,” he said. “But with the continued support of the United States and other partners, we believe that a turning point has been reached.”…
The agreement has provisions on territorial integrity, prohibition of hostilities and the disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration of non-state armed groups.
