Rebels to withdraw from DR Congo city under pressure from Trump

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Rwanda-allied M23 rebels have announced a unilateral withdrawal from the eastern city of Uvira in the Democratic Republic of Congo after coming under intense US pressure to halt an offensive that has infuriated the administration of Donald Trump.  

The rebels began expanding control of territory, with alleged backing from Rwanda, just as Trump hosted the Rwandan and DR Congo leaders at the White House to sign a peace accord on December 4.

The heavy fighting that ensued has cast doubt on months of diplomacy led by the US and Qatar aimed at drawing a line under 30 years of conflict in eastern Congo and opening up US access to critical minerals in the region.

A person familiar with the matter said the rebel announcement came after a “high-level” call from Washington to Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, whose army command has been accused by the US and European powers of directing the rebel offensive and sending troops to reinforce it.

The M23 rebel group, which is part of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), is initiating a “unilateral trust-building measure to give the Doha peace process the maximum chance of success in providing lasting solutions to the conflict”, the AFC said.

The withdrawal, it added, was contingent on the “guarantors of the peace process” ensuring the demilitarisation of Uvira, which sits on a central trade corridor bordering Burundi, the protection of its population and the deployment of a neutral force to monitor a ceasefire.  

Trump launched the peace process earlier this year when DR Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi approached Washington offering access to critical minerals in return for US support in halting a rebel advance that had engulfed a vast swath of territory rich in gold, coltan and tin.

The M23 is not party to the US-led peace process but is involved in parallel negotiations in Doha, which have made limited progress. Some analysts believed the group’s latest advance was intended to gain additional leverage in the Doha talks.

But its latest success in routing the motley alliance of the Congolese army, allied militia and soldiers from neighbouring Burundi was a humiliation for Tshisekedi, whose government has come under fire at home for its alleged mismanagement of the army.

More than 200,000 people fled their homes in the south Kivu province bordering Rwanda and Burundi as the fighting broke out on the way to Uvira earlier this month.

Thousands of Congolese troops, militia and Burundian soldiers were routed under a barrage of drone and artillery fire as the M23 advanced. US and European officials have accused Rwanda of being closely involved in planning and executing the conflict.

According to diplomatic sources and people close to the M23, several hundred Burundian soldiers were killed and nearly 1,000 captured, raising the prospect of a wider regional conflagration.

The US has come down firmly on Kinshasa’s side after signing a parallel agreement with Tshisekedi’s government granting it preferential access to DR Congo’s huge store of minerals, which includes cobalt, copper, tin, coltan and gold.

Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, said Rwanda’s actions in eastern Congo were a clear violation of the Washington accords and warned that the US would “take action to ensure promises made to the president are kept”.

Rwanda, which denies supporting the M23 and has said its troops only crossed the border for “defensive” reasons, has accused DR Congo and its allies of repeatedly violating ceasefire agreements using drones and fighter jets.

The M23 also justified its offensive, accusing DR Congo and its allies of ethnically motivated attacks on Banyamulenge ethnic Tutsis isolated in the mountains above Uvira.

“These air strikes against densely populated areas (including Banyamulenge villages) have been going on for several months now, and the DR Congo government is even bragging about them,” Olivier Nduhungirehe, Rwanda’s foreign minister, said this week. “However, western countries will suddenly wake up only when the AFC/M23 retaliates,” he said.