KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — President Paul Kagame of Rwanda urged Congolese authorities on Thursday to negotiate with a violent rebel group that has seized key towns in eastern Congo in recent days, expanding its control over the region that borders Rwanda.
M23 is the most prominent of the more than 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in the mineral-rich area near the Congolese border with Rwanda, where more than 1 million people were displaced by fighting last year. Last month, it captured the towns of Katale and Masisi, the latter located 80 kilometers (49 miles) west of the regional capital, Goma, a strategic entry point into the Congolese interior.
Kagame told reporters in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, that failure to engage directly with M23 rebels indicates an unwillingness to find a political solution to the conflict.
“There has to be an effort to continue finding a solution,” Kagame said. “The solution lies in an internal political process or dialogue.”
Congo accuses Rwanda of backing M23 and has repeatedly rejected Kagame’s advice to negotiate with the rebels. United Nations experts estimate that there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.
The rebel group rose to prominence a decade ago when its fighters seized Goma, which borders Rwanda. It derives its name from a March 23, 2009, peace deal that it accuses the Congolese government of not implementing. After lying largely dormant for a decade, M23 resurfaced in late 2021 and has since captured wide swathes of territory in eastern Congo.
In July, Congo signed a ceasefire with M23 that came into effect in August. But fighting has resumed, with the U.S. expressing “grave concern” over ceasefire violations by M23 rebels.
In addition to negotiating with the M23 leadership, Kagame said Congolese authorities must also address the threat to Rwandan national security stemming from the presence in Congo of another armed group, known by its French initials, FDLR.
Rwandan authorities say the FDLR, whose members include alleged perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, is embedded in the Congolese army.
“The FDLR question has to be answered,” Kagame said, accusing Congo of persecuting its own people and causing them to become refugees in Rwanda.
M23’s rebellion has caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in Congo’s North Kivu province in recent years. While M23 leaders claim they are committed to protecting civilians, their attempts to capture towns cause widespread panic and fear as locals flee.
Last February, the U.S. State Department for the first time publicly described M23 as a “Rwanda-backed” armed group and urged Rwanda “to immediately withdraw all Rwanda Defense Force personnel from Congo and remove its surface-to-air missile systems.”
U.N. experts previously said they had “solid evidence” that members of Rwanda’s armed forces were conducting operations in support of M23.
