Congolese civilians who fled from Goma, eastern DR Congo following fighting between M23 rebels and Armed Forces of the DR Congo (FARDC), wash their feet after arriving at a reception centre in Rugerero near Gisenyi, in Rwanda
June 27 – Congolese negotiators have dropped a demand that Rwandan troops immediately leave eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, paving the way for a U.S.-brokered peace agreement to be signed between the longtime foes later on Friday.
Rwanda has sent at least 7,000 soldiers over the border, according to analysts and diplomats, in support of the M23 rebels, who seized eastern Congo’s two largest cities and lucrative mining areas in a lightning advance earlier this year.
Rwanda has long denied providing arms and troops to M23 and says it is acting in self-defence.
Congolese and Rwandan officials are expected to sign a peace deal in Washington on Friday following a diplomatic push by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to end years of conflict with roots in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
The agreement also aims to attract Western investment to the two countries’ mining sectors, which boast deposits of tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium, while giving the U.S. access to critical minerals.
Earlier this month Washington was pushing for Rwanda to withdraw its troops before the deal’s signing, a pre-condition that was also included in a U.S.-prepared draft authenticated by diplomats.
But that timeline faced resistance from Rwanda as Kigali considers Congo-based armed groups an existential threat, particularly the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which includes remnants of Rwanda’s former army and militias that carried out the genocide.
Sources say that the new version of the agreement aims to obtain the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from eastern Congo over several months and the withdrawal might be conditioned on operations against the FDLR.
Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo told Journalists on Thursday that under the agreement the “lifting of defensive measures in our border area” would be contingent upon the FDLR’s “neutralisation”.
Tina Salama, spokesperson for Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, told the media that Kinshasa was intent on securing the “disengagement or total withdrawal” of Rwandan forces from Congolese territory.
It remains unclear how far the agreement to be signed on Friday will advance beyond a declaration of principles agreed in April.
