Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
17-11-2025
DOHA: The Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 rebel group signed on Saturday a framework agreement for a peace deal aimed at ending fighting in eastern Congo that has killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands more this year.
The agreement was signed by representatives from both sides at a ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha.
The framework was described by US and Qatari officials as an important step to peace but one of many that lie ahead.
The top US envoy to the region, Massad Boulos told media the framework covered eight protocols, and that work still needed to be done to agree on how to implement six of them.
Boulos also acknowledged that implementing the first two protocols concerning the exchange of prisoners and the monitoring of a ceasefire, agreed in recent months; had been slow.
“Yes, they were a little bit slow in the first few weeks,” he told reporters after the signing. “Yes, people were expecting to see probably some immediate results on the ground, but this is a process… This is not a light switch that you just switch on and off.”
M23, in the latest of a string of actions supported by neighboring Rwanda, seized Goma, eastern Congo’s largest city, in January and went on to make gains across North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
Rwanda has long denied allegations that it has helped M23, which has seized more territory in Congo than it has ever previously held.
In Congo, the violence has continued through the various diplomatic processes in Washington and Doha. On Friday, local officials reported as many as 28 people killed by Islamic State-allied militants in eastern North Kivu province.
Qatar has hosted multiple rounds of direct talks between the Congo government and the rebels going back to April, but they have dealt largely with preconditions and confidence-building measures.
The two sides agreed in July to a declaration of principles that left many key issues at the root of the conflict unresolved, and in October they reached a deal on the monitoring of an eventual ceasefire.
Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi said Saturday’s agreement set the parties on the path towards peace.
“Peace cannot be enforced by force, but is built through confidence, mutual respect and sincere commitment,” he said.
In July, Rwanda has exercised command and control over M23 rebels during their advance in eastern Congo, gaining political influence and access to mineral-rich territory, according to a confidential report by a group of United Nations experts.
The report obtained by Reuters details training which the experts say Rwanda has provided to M23 recruits and military equipment they say Rwanda has deployed notably “high-tech systems capable of neutralizing air assets”, to give the rebels “a decisive tactical advantage” over Congo’s beleaguered army.
The report was submitted to the UN Security Council sanctions committee for Congo in early May and is due to be published shortly, said diplomats.
M23 has advanced in eastern Congo, seizing the region’s two largest cities, Goma and Bukavu, in January and February. Congo, the United Nations and Western powers say Rwanda is supporting M23 by sending troops and arms.
Rwanda has long denied helping M23 and says its forces are acting in self-defence against Congo’s army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
