Congo government and M23 rebel group will hold peace talks on March 18, mediator Angola says

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Congo’s government and the M23 rebel group will participate in peace talks on March 18, Angola said Wednesday.

A statement from Angolan President João Lourenço’s office said they would begin “direct peace negotiations” in the Angolan capital, Luanda.

Angola has acted as a mediator in the conflict in eastern Congo, which escalated in late January when the Rwanda-backed rebels advanced and took control of the strategic eastern Congo city of Goma. M23 seized Bukavu, eastern Congo’s second biggest city, last month.

Congo President Felix Tshisekedi visited Angola on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of peace talks.

The announcement comes after several canceled peace talks hosted by Angola that had previously excluded M23 and instead focused on their Rwandan backers.

M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, in a conflict that has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises. More than 7 million people have been displaced.

The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, over 1,000 miles away.

___

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa