DESPITE growing international pressure, the Democratic Republic of Congo is standing firm on its decision not to have direct talks with the M23 rebel group that has made major advances in the east of the country in recent months.
Last week, the UK government added to calls for the group to be part of an “inclusive dialogue” to help find a political solution to the conflict.
But in an interview with the BBC, DR Congo Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka said her government wants to negotiate with neighbouring Rwanda, which it accuses of backing the M23.
At least 8,500 people have been killed since fighting escalated in January, according to the Congolese authorities.
Hundreds of thousands have also been forced from their homes amid the chaos triggered by the fighting, in which UN experts and others see Rwanda as having a key role.
“The fact remains that the aggressor of the territorial integrity and of the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of Congo is Rwanda,” Suminwa Tuluka said, citing a UN experts’ report from last year that stated that between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan troops had crossed into Congolese territory and were fighting alongside the M23.
Peace talks brokered by Angola hit a deadlock last December after Rwanda demanded that the Congolese government talk directly to the M23.
The rebel group then advanced swiftly, taking control of the cities of Goma and Bukavu in January and February.
At a joint East and Southern African mediation effort last month, regional leaders called for a ceasefire, the exit of “uninvited foreign armed forces” from Congolese territory and also urged for direct negotiations between “state and non-state parties… including M23”.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame did not deny the presence of his troops in DR Congo when asked about it. “I don’t know,” he said in a CNN interview.
The conflict across the border has seen his country, often viewed as a darling of the West, now lose favour fast across the board.
Pressure is mounting on it to withdraw its forces from Congolese soil.
“But it has not yet effectively done so,” Suminwa Tuluka said.