Kinshasa, Congo (AFP) – Rwanda and Congo have agreed to ease tensions after one-day talks between their presidents mediated by Angola, the Congolese presidency announced on Wednesday.
The statement stated that the two countries will revive the Congo and Rwanda Commission, which will resume its activities on July 12 in the Angolan capital, Luanda. He also called for the return of normal diplomatic relations between Kinshasa and Kigali, the cessation of hostilities and the “immediate and unconditional withdrawal” of the March 23 rebel movement from its positions in eastern Congo.
There was no immediate news of the talks from Rwanda, whose president Paul Kagame met Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in Luanda, Angola’s capital, on Wednesday amid rising tensions. Rwanda and Congo have exchanged angry statements stemming from allegations that Rwanda supports the March 23 Movement, which is made up mostly of Tutsi fighters from Congo. The March 23 Movement last month captured a Congolese town near the border with Uganda.
Rwanda in turn accuses Congo of supporting a group of rebels with members allegedly involved in the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
Both countries deny the allegations.
The African Union earlier this year asked Angola to mediate between Congo and Rwanda under the auspices of a regional body known as the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.
About 170,000 people were displaced in the weeks since the emergence of M23 in eastern Congo. Wednesday’s summit called for the return of all refugees to their countries of origin, according to a statement by the Congolese presidency.
___
Ssuuna contributed from Kigali, Rwanda.
