Congo and the Rebel group M23 concluded an agreement in Qatar on Saturday. Reuters news agency reports this. The parties agreed in a declaration of intent on 18 August to sign a peace agreement. In recent months, with the support of Rwanda, M23 has made a bloody rise in Eastern Congo. At the end of June, Congo and Rwanda already signed a peace agreement in the United States.
Qatar has been throwing himself up as a mediator in the conflict since March. In the first instance, this led to a call to a ceasefire by Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda. In April, direct conversations between Congo and M23 in Qatar followed. The negotiations were difficult, among other things, because Congo members of M23 who holds it prisoners does not want to release. It is unclear exactly what agreements have been made in the agreement that has now been concluded.
The fighting in Eastern Congo flared up in January. M23 took the Eastern Congolese city of Goma. According to the UN, seven hundred people were killed, including many citizens. There were also messages from rapes and looting. According to the UN, in the first months of the conflict seven thousand deadalmost half a million people also became displaced.
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