(Reuters) -A de facto ceasefire between Congolese forces and Rwandan-backed rebels in the eastern Congo town of Walikale appeared to have broken down on Monday, with the rebels going back on a pledge to withdraw and accusing the army of violating its own commitments.
The prospect of a ceasefire in the strategic town of Walikale, which the M23 rebels captured last week, had briefly fuelled hopes of reviving stalled diplomatic efforts to resolve eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s biggest conflict in decades.
The conflict, rooted in the long fallout from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and competition for control of mineral riches, has led to rebel control of eastern Congo’s two largest cities, thousands of deaths and fears of a wider regional war.
But less than 48 hours after the rebels announced their intention to withdraw from Walikale and Congo’s army responded by saying it would refrain from attacking them, the arrangement risked going the way of a string of prior failed ceasefires.
Lawrence Kanyuka, the spokesperson for M23’s Congo River Alliance (AFC) rebel coalition, accused the army and allied militias of not withdrawing their attack drones from Walikale.
“This situation delays the repositioning of AFC/M23 forces in the zone,” he wrote on X. “It should be noted that this act constitutes a major obstacle to respecting the ceasefire and thus compromises peace initiatives underway.”
Army spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Residents of Walikale, which marked the farthest west M23 had reached since escalating their offensive in January, said rebel fighters were still in town on Monday morning.
“They haven’t moved. They are still visible in the centre of town,” said one, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
PEACE TALKS
Attempts to bring Congo and the rebels to the negotiating table have repeatedly failed.
The two sides were scheduled to hold direct talks for the first time in Angola last week after Kinshasa dropped its longstanding refusal to speak to the rebels, but M23 then pulled out in protest of European Union sanctions against its leaders and Rwandan officials.
Angola said on Monday that it was pulling back from efforts to mediate in the conflict and that another African state would take its place.
President Joao Lourenco, the current chairperson of the African Union, had been trying to facilitate a lasting ceasefire but his office said in a statement that Angola needed to devote itself more to the AU’s overall priorities.
The Angolan government expressed frustration last week about a surprise meeting arranged by Qatar’s emir between Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame, saying it preferred African solutions to African problems.
Tshisekedi and Kagame expressed support at that meeting for an immediate ceasefire, but M23 said it was not bound by those calls.
Congo, the United Nations and Western countries all accuse Rwanda of providing arms and troops to the ethnic Tutsi-led M23.
Rwanda denies supporting M23 and says its military has been acting in self-defence against Congo’s army and a militia founded by perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.
In a statement early on Monday, before M23 made its comments about the ceasefire, Qatar’s government welcomed developments over the weekend, which it called “a significant positive step toward achieving stability and peace in the region.”
(Reporting by Congo newsroomWriting by Sofia Christensen and Aaron Ross; Editing by Hereward Holland and Toby Chopra)
