M23 rebels withdraw from Luanda peace talks as DRC stays course

The Rwanda-backed M23 group announced it would skip Tuesday’s peace talks with the DR Congo government in Luanda, Angola, in response to EU sanctions targeting some of its top leaders.

However, Kinshasa confirmed it would attend despite the M23’s absence.

Tina Salama, spokesperson for DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, told Agence France-Presse (AFP), “The Congolese delegation has left Kinshasa for Luanda. We will respond to Angola’s invitation for mediation.”

The M23, which controls large parts of DR Congo’s mineral-rich east, accused “certain international institutions” on Monday of “deliberately sabotaging peace efforts,” specifically referencing the European Union sanctions.

The EU sanctioned three Rwandan military commanders and the head of its mining agency on Monday for their support of armed fighters in eastern DR Congo, as well as senior members of the M23, including its leader, Bertrand Bisimwa.

The peace talks were scheduled to start Tuesday in Luanda, where Angolan President João Lourenço has been appointed by the African Union to mediate in the conflict.

Numerous calls from the international community for a ceasefire have fallen on deaf ears.

Since January, the M23 – made up primarily of Congolese Tutsis – has seized the key cities of Goma and Bukavu in a lightning advance that has killed more than 7,000 people, according to a toll from DR Congo.

AFP has not been able to independently verify the figure.

A United Nations report has said Kigali effectively controls M23 and has around 4,000 troops backing it in order to exploit the region’s valuable minerals, such as gold and coltan.

Rwanda denies providing the M23 with military assistance but says it faces a threat from the FDLR group in eastern DR Congo, which was founded by Hutu leaders involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis.

Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame were supposed to meet in Luanda in mid-December for direct talks, but they could not agree on the terms, and the summit was called off at the last minute.

The last time Kinshasa and the M23 held talks was in 2013.

The armed group had captured Goma in 2012 but was militarily defeated the following year by Congolese armed forces supported by U.N. peacekeepers.