The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels are holding crucial talks in Qatar, aiming to find peace in conflict-ridden eastern Congo, where insurgents have seized large swaths of territory, officials said Thursday.
The decades-long conflict escalated in January when M23 rebels captured the key city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu in February.
The violence has claimed around 3,000 lives and sparked fears of a broader regional war.
Delegations from both Congo’s government and the M23 rebel group met in Doha, Qatar’s capital, on Wednesday, according to officials from both sides.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks.
The talks follow a recent Qatar-facilitated meeting between Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Doha and failed efforts by neighboring countries to get both parties to return to dialogue and recommit to a peace deal each side accuses the other of violating.
Among the rebels' demands is that Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi annul “all death sentences and prosecutions” of M23 members, according to an official within the rebel group. The delegation is led by Bertrand Bisimwa, deputy coordinator of the Congo River Alliance, which includes the M23.
Congo's government delegation is primarily made up of officials from the national security services. They demand that the rebels withdraw from territory seized in the conflict-hit region, according to a Congolese official.
Analysts have described the meeting as meaningful but are wary about immediate positive outcomes.
A successful outcome of the meeting in Doha would "depend on the ability of the mediator to maintain pressure on the various stakeholders, particularly Rwanda, and to keep them at the table,” said Christian Moleka, a political scientist at the Congolese think tank Dypol.
Moleka added that rebel withdrawal would not be easy without pressure from the international community on Rwanda, citing when the M23 briefly captured Goma in 2012 before pulling out.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups 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, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the west.
Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, recently told The Associated Press (AP) that international sanctions and Congo’s proposed minerals deal with the United States in search of peace would not stop the fighting.
"As long as there are no binding measures on Rwanda or the M23, these measures will remain a dead matter,” Moleka said.
