Congo and Rwanda -backed rebel group M23 on Saturday signed a framework agreement for a peace deal to end decades-long fighting in eastern Congo, but tensions between the two sides remain.<\/p>\n
The agreement, which was signed in Doha after mediation by Qatar, is not yet a final peace deal, but rather a framework outlining the protocols and timeline for future discussions, the head of the M23 delegation, Benjamin Mbonimpa, said in a video posted on X.<\/p>\n
Mbonimpa said the framework agreement includes eight protocols that address the \u201croot causes\u201d of the conflict. He did not give further details.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be neither any change in the situation on the ground nor any activity whatsoever until the protocols are debated, negotiated and discussed one by one and a final peace agreement is reached,\u201d the head of M23\u2019s delegation said.<\/p>\n
A key objective of the framework agreement is the joint management of the rebel-held areas by the Congolese government and M23, a spokesperson for the rebels, Lawrence Kanyuka, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Backed by neighboring Rwanda, M23 is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups fighting for control in Congo\u2019s mineral-rich east. With 7 million people displaced in Congo, the UN has called the conflict \u201cone of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a major escalation of the decade-long conflict, earlier this year the rebels seized Goma and Bukavu, two key cities in eastern Congo.<\/p>\n
Qatar has hosted multiple rounds of talks since April between the Congolese government and the rebels, mainly to set preconditions for a peace deal and agree on confidence-building steps, but both sides still accuse each other of dragging out the conflict.<\/p>\n
In July, Congo and M23 signed a declaration of principles in Qatar to end the conflict and commit to a comprehensive peace agreement that would include the restoration of state authorities in key eastern cities controlled by the insurgents and the exchange of prisoners.<\/p>\n
The two sides agreed to finalize a peace deal no later than Aug. 18 but missed that deadline, accusing each other of violating peace terms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Congo and Rwanda -backed rebel group M23 on Saturday signed a framework agreement for a peace deal to end decades-long fighting in eastern Congo, but tensions between the two sides remain. The agreement, which was signed in Doha after mediation by Qatar, is not yet a final peace deal, but rather a framework outlining the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-news-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57265,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57263\/revisions\/57265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}