The Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 rebel group signed on Saturday a declaration of principles to end fighting in the country’s east, a sign of progress even as sources briefed on the talks said details needed to be negotiated.
The signing by representatives from both sides took place at a ceremony in Qatar that followed months of Qatari mediation after talks began in April.
The United States has pushed for finalisation of a durable peace deal in the Central African country.
US President Donald Trump has made clear he hopes that it would attract Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals.
M23, in the latest of a series of uprisings supported by Rwanda, seized Goma, eastern DRC’s largest city, in January and went on to make gains across North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
The fighting has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more this year, while escalating the risk of a full-scale regional war.
Several of DRC’s neighbours already had troops deployed in the country’s east when the advance began.
In March, Qatar brokered a surprise meeting between DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame during which they called for an “immediate and unconditional” ceasefire.
That led to direct talks, also in Doha, between DRC and M23. DRC had previously rejected the idea of holding talks with M23, branding it a terrorist group.
Sources in both delegations have expressed frustration with the pace of negotiations and the lack of progress on confidence-building measures, including the release of M23 members held by DRC and the reopening of banks in rebel-held territory.
It was unclear on Saturday how many of those issues have been resolved.
Bigger outstanding questions concerning the possible Rwandan and M23 withdrawals from eastern DRC were not expected to be fully addressed by the declaration of principles.
‘Significant development’
The African Union on Saturday said a ceasefire signed between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group was a “significant development”.
“This... marks a major milestone in the ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace, security, and stability in eastern DRC and the wider Great Lakes region,” African Union chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said in a statement.
