KAMPALA – Rebels and government officials from the Democratic Republic
of Congo traded threats and accusations on the first full session of
peace talks in neighboring Uganda on Tuesday, casting a shadow over
hopes for a settlement.
M23 rebels
Western and African powers are banking on the negotiations to end the
M23 rebels’ revolt in Congo’s volatile east, where political and ethnic
rifts, together with competition over vast mineral resources, threaten
to ignite a regional war.
The Uganda-brokered talks formally opened on Sunday. But squabbling
started minutes after the sides’ opening press statements and the M23
rebels boycotted the proceedings on Monday.
During the first session on Tuesday, DRC Foreign Affairs Minister
Raymond Tshibanda described the insurgent group as “a negative force
that must be neutralized and eradicated”.
Later in the day, the M23 rebels’ head of external relations, Rene
Abandi, emerged from the talks and accused the government of preparing
for more violence.
“FARDC (the government army) is reinforcing its positions in North Kivu
and preparing for war and we have reports showing that,” Abandi told
Reuters.
“SLIM CHANCE OF SUCCESS”
The talks were called after the regional International Conference on the
Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) secured a deal last month for the rebels to
pull put of Goma, provincial capital of DRC’s eastern North Kivu
province.
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