Peace on Hold: M23 Calls Off Talks with Congo

The Rwandan-backed M23 rebels, which have seized key areas in mineral-rich territory in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), withdrew from peace talks with the Congolese government, citing international sanctions, the Associated Press reported.

Peace talks were set to start Tuesday in the Angolan capital of Luanda but M23’s spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka said in a statement that they “have become impracticable” due to sanctions announced by the European Union.

The bloc sanctioned four Congolese nationals, including the political leader and three other key members of M23, and five Rwandan nationals, including the commander of Rwandan special forces.

The bloc also sanctioned Rwanda’s only gold refinery and accused it of contributing to the “illegal extraction and trafficking of natural resources” from eastern Congo.

In response, Rwanda cut all diplomatic ties with Belgium on Monday, a month after the European country halted development aid to East Africa.

The DRC government had previously rejected participating in Angolan-brokered peace talks but said Monday it was ready to take part and sent a delegation to Luanda. M23 had also sent a delegation, Africanews wrote.

The ongoing conflict in the eastern DRC escalated in January when the M23 rebels seized the strategic city of Goma and later the city of Bukavu. M23, which is backed by 4,000 Rwandan troops, has threatened to march toward the DRC capital Kinshasa.

This conflict has created one of the most significant humanitarian crises in the world, displacing more than seven million people, with tens of thousands of Congolese crossing the borders into Burundi and Uganda, France 24 noted.

M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been trying to take over the mineral-reach area near the Rwandan border, because of its mineral deposits used in the production of Western tech gadgets such as smartphones and computers. The untapped minerals are estimated to be worth $13 trillion.

Preliminary discussions have begun between the DRC and the US on a mining partnership in exchange for economic and security support.