DRC, Rwanda pledge 'de-escalation' after US delegation visit
Tensions around eastern DRC under the eye of the United States: a group of very senior Biden administration officials visited Kigali and Kinshasa on Sunday 19 and Monday 20 November, where they met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi respectively. The aim was to achieve de-escalation between the two neighbours, as tensions have risen a notch in recent weeks. According to Washington, the DRC and Rwanda are "committed" to "reducing the current tensions".
A Congolese soldier during training in Sake, eastern DRC, on November 6, 2023, with members of the UN forces (MONUSCO) (illustration). © Glody Murhabazi / AFP
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Just two weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke separately on the phone with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, urging them to foster diplomacy in their relations and to de-escalate tensions, including by withdrawing troops from their shared border, our correspondent in Washington reports. Guillaume Naudin.
This time, the Biden administration has moved. In the delegation, the Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, the Africa adviser to Joe Biden and the National Security Council, especially Avril Haines. It coordinates all U.S. national intelligence, including the CIA, FBI and military intelligence, and is placed under the direct authority of the President of the United States.
Avril Haines made the trip to obtain commitments from the two leaders to defuse tensions in eastern DRC.
« We have never been so close to a war »
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We have never been so close to a war," said a source close to the Congolese presidency to explain the arrival of American envoys earlier this week. They held talks with President Tshisekedi on Monday before he left to campaign in Kongo-Central. He is a candidate in the presidential election on 20th December and is running for a second term.
Following the talks with the Americans, "Presidents Kagame and Tshisekedi commit to take specific measures to reduce the current tensions by addressing the respective security concerns of both countries," the White House said in its statement issued on Tuesday (November 21st) after the return of its delegation.
The U.S. presidency says it "welcomes" this and "intends to monitor these de-escalation measures" taken by the DRC and Rwanda.
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All military Congolese leader linked to FDLR will be arrested, Kinshasa announces
The Congolese presidency confirms that commitments have been made by Kinshasa without detailing them. Unofficially, the message from the army spokesman broadcast on Tuesday evening is seen as a first step: Congolese General Sylvain Ekenge announced that he would arrest and punish "any soldier" in the process of "establishing and maintaining" contacts with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the Rwandan Hutu rebellion that has taken refuge in the east of the country since the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994.
Until now, Kinshasa has denied any links with the armed group, although its armed forces have been regularly accused since mid-2022 of collaborating with it, in particular to stem the advance of the M23.
"Logically, Rwanda should do the same with the M23 ", explains the same source, who adds that the Congolese side does not expect Kigali to keep its commitments. So far, Rwandans have not reacted officially.
In concession, Tshisekedi confirms he will go to the EAC summit
In another concession by the Congolese president, Felix Tshisekedi announced his presence at the East African Community (EAC) summit in Arusha on Friday (November 24th), cancelling a campaign trip to Kisangani, scheduled for the same day.
Officially, nothing has leaked out of the three-hour meeting that President Tshisekedi had with President Biden's envoys. But following this meeting, the Congolese president announced that he would come to Arusha on Friday for the summit of the East African community. He postponed a campaign trip scheduled for the same day to Kisangani.
While the stated objective of this meeting in the Tanzanian capital is to relaunch the peace process, the Congolese hope to record the departure of the EAC force. "They have to leave on 8 December," confirms a member of the government, who adds that he cannot imagine that it could be otherwise.
President Tshisekedi has spoken in recent days with several of his counterparts in the region. "There is some resistance," they confide in Kinshasa, "especially Kenya, which sees this withdrawal as a failure," the same source continued.
At the same time, the DRC approved the final agreement allowing the deployment of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) force to take over from the EAC as early as next month. These soldiers from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi will also replace the UN mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), whose disengagement plan was signed by the two parties on Tuesday evening.
Read alsoBeginning of the electoral campaign in the DRC
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