Congo and M23 rebels to hold peace talks Tuesday, says mediator Angola

Photo : Instagram / @voaafrica

The government of Congo and the M23 rebel group will have peace talks next week in Angola. Angola’s President João Lourenço said the meeting will happen on March 18 in Luanda, the capital of Angola.

The M23 rebels have been fighting with Congo’s army and have taken control of important places in eastern Congo. These areas have a lot of valuable minerals. The fighting has made life very hard for many people, and millions have had to leave their homes.

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Angola has been trying to help stop the war. The situation got worse in January when M23 fighters captured Goma, a big and important city. In February, they took another large city, Bukavu.

Congo’s President, Felix Tshisekedi, went to Angola on Tuesday to talk about peace. After the meeting, Angola said both sides agreed to start direct talks.

"After Angola’s work to help end the fighting in eastern Congo, we announce that Congo and M23 will have peace talks on March 18 in Luanda," said a statement from President Lourenço’s office.

Congo’s government has not given an official answer yet. But the spokesperson for President Tshisekedi, Tina Salama, said Congo supports Angola’s plan and hopes for peace.

There have been peace talks before, but they did not work. Earlier, Congo refused to speak directly with M23. Instead, Congo wanted to talk to Rwanda because it believes Rwanda is helping M23.

In December, peace talks between Congo and Rwanda were canceled because Rwanda wanted Congo to talk directly to M23 first. Congo did not agree, so the meeting did not happen.

M23 is one of about 100 armed groups in eastern Congo. These groups fight for control of land and minerals like gold and tin. The war has made millions of people suffer, and more than 7 million have been forced to leave their homes.

The United Nations says that M23 has about 4,000 fighters, many from Rwanda. At times, the group has said they want to march to Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, which is more than 1,000 miles away.

The U.N. is also looking into war crimes in the conflict. They are checking reports of killings and rape by both sides.