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Representatives of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed a draft peace deal to end decades of conflict and quell a rebellion in eastern Congo.
The breakthrough came during several days of talks in Washington with participation from Qatar, which has been hosting parallel negotiations between the Kinshasa government and M23 rebels allied with Rwanda.
The US State Department said technical teams had initialled the agreement on Wednesday ahead of a formal signing ceremony on June 27 in Washington, and a hoped-for summit between Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Felix Tshisekedi of DR Congo.
US President Donald Trump’s administration initiated the negotiations after DR Congo’s embattled president offered to facilitate US investment in Congo’s vast mineral riches. The offer was in return for help from Washington in halting a Rwandan-backed rebellion that was threatening to overwhelm his government.
If a deal is concluded, Trump is likely to claim it as a victory for his more transactional style of diplomacy.
M23 rebels have captured a vast swath of mineral rich eastern Congo since January including gold and tin mines and the region’s two largest cities, Goma and Bukavu.
The state department said the agreement, which builds on past African initiatives, includes “provisions on respect for territorial integrity” — which is code for the withdrawal of thousands of Rwandan troops present in rebel-held areas. It also provides for the “disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration of non-state armed groups”.
There are more than 100 different armed factions active in the east of Congo, including M23. Previous attempts to end the multi-layered conflicts that have plagued the region since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda have all unravelled.
In a statement, the state department said that a joint security co-ordination mechanism would be created to help sustain the deal, which also includes provisions for the return of millions of refugees and internally displaced people, access for relief agencies and a regional economic integration framework.
If it holds, the deal could pave the way for billions of dollars of investment, backed by the US private sector development lending body, the International Development Finance Corporation, in mines, infrastructure and metal processing plants. The DFC was created during Trump’s first term.
DR Congo is negotiating a separate critical minerals deal with the Trump administration. The Kinshasa government hopes this will give Washington a vested interest in policing the peace, while also helping to counter China’s dominance in its multibillion-dollar mining sector.
This would see US and other western companies invest in copper, cobalt, lithium and coltan mines, and metals processing and finance infrastructure to encourage more formalised trade ties between Congo and its neighbours.
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