Luanda mini-summit agrees on ceasefire in conflict-torn eastern DRC from Friday

A mini-summit in Luanda has ended with an agreement for an “immediate ceasefire” from 6pm this Friday in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs announced.

During the mini-summit in Angola’s capital city, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi met with Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta, in the absence of President Paul Kagame, to try to end the recent tensions in eastern DRC after the failure of a ceasefire agreement reached in July. The parties also agreed to demand “the immediate withdrawal of the M23 rebels from the occupied areas,” said Angolan Foreign Minister Tete Antonio at the end of the meeting.

The delegations were received by Angolan President and African Union-appointed mediator Joao Lourenço.

The eastern DRC region has been plagued for nearly 30 years by violence from armed groups, many of them inherited from wars that bloodied the region in the wake of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Kinshasa has also repeatedly accused its neighbor Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels, something that UN experts and US officials have also pointed to in recent months. Kenya’s former leader Uhuru Kenyatta, the East African Community’s facilitator, has been attempting to mediate over recent weeks, saying Rwandan President Paul Kagame is ready to encourage the militia to cease fire and pull back from captured territory.