A summit that would bring together President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Felix Tshisekedi of DR Congo and the mediator João Lourenço of Angola on Sunday, December 15 in the Angolan capital Luanda, was postponed due to “unresolved critical issues” related to Rwanda’s security concerns. These concerns include regime change threats by Congolese officials on Rwanda and the continued presence in eastern DR Congo of the FDLR, a militia founded by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, according to the Rwandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. ALSO READ: Well-paid mercenaries in DR Congo causing ‘jealousy’ within FARDC ranks The ministry said on Sunday afternoon that a ministerial meeting held on Saturday in Luanda failed to reach a consensus on the way forward for the security situation in eastern DR Congo, where a Congolese government coalition is fighting the M23 rebels. At the Saturday meeting attended by the Foreign Ministers of Rwanda, DR Congo and Angola no consensus was reached between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on a commitment to direct talks with the Congolese rebel group M23, for a political solution to the conflict in eastern DRC, the Ministry said in a statement. ALSO READ: Who are the M23 rebels? “This summit would therefore not have resulted in an agreement, particularly in the context of continued threats by DRC officials, including the President, to pursue regime change in Rwanda, as well as the wider coalition of forces deployed in Eastern DRC alongside FARDC including European mercenaries, the Burundian military, Wazalendo, and FDLR.” “There must be serious actions to deal with the FDLR beyond the games being played around this problem,” the statement said. ALSO READ: Rwanda raises concerns over DR Congo arming of FDLR The postponement of the Presidential summit allows time for the dialogue proposed by the President of Angola, João Lourenço, with former President Uhuru Kenyatta, between M23 and DR Congo. “There are actions that the DRC can and must take for themselves without continually using Rwanda as a pretext for doing nothing. Rwanda remains ready to participate in a summit that would adopt a serious and concrete path to resolve these remaining questions once and for all,” the statement read. ALSO READ: FDLR supremo on how Kinshasa collaborates with genocidal militia Announcing the postponement of the Luanda summit, Angolan Presidency said President Lourenço met with Tshisekedi and Kenyatta, the facilitator of the Nairobi process, another initiative seeking to bring peace to eastern DR Congo, in order to “define the steps to be taken in the coming period,” in anticipation of an agreement between Rwanda and DR Congo under Angolan mediation. The Angolan Presidency said that the Sunday summit had been postponed at the request of “one of the parties” and that a future date for the summit was not agreed upon.
