Difficult negotiations in Qatar are expected to resume in the next week for a broader peace agreement.
The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC) and the M23 rebels backed by Rwanda have agreed to stop the fight while working a broader peace agreement, according to their joint declaration.
The truce, declared late Wednesday after a round of negotiations in the capital of Qatar, Doha, has increased the hope that the last wave of violence, stimulated by the bloody assault of January of M23 and the capture of the two largest cities of the RDC, can begin.
“Both parties reaffirm their commitment to an imeded cessation of hostilities, a categorical rejection of any hate discourse, intimidation and request for local commitments to maintain these commitments,” said the joint statement.
The “cessation of the hosticities” would apply “during the duration of the conversations and until their conclusion,” he added.
Alain Uaykani de Al Jazeera, who reports from the Eastern RDC rubber city, said the mutual agreement of the two parties to follow peace, after numerous failed negotiation attempts, was an encouraging change.
However, he added that the reports of continuous confrontations, even in the province of South Kivu, show how “fragile” is any truce agreement.
The impulse of peace mediated by Qatar occurs after the successful state of the Gulf negotiated a surprise meeting last month between Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi and the president of Ruanda Paul Kagame.
The session apparently raided the way for direct conversations between the RDC and M23, with which Kinshasa had previously refused to meet.
The decades conflict has roots in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, with M23 mainly composed of ethnic Tutsi combatants.
Many were former rebels integrated in the RDC army that he later deserted, citing discrimination and broken peace agreements.
Since 2021, the two parties have agreed at least six trucus that then collapsed. The last episode of violence since January has killed Miles and has generated fears of a broader regional war.
The RDC, the United Nations and Western governments have accused Rwanda of supporting M23 with troops and weapons, but Kigali has long denied sending military help.
‘Crucial step’
Despite the truce statement, some sources from the Government of the RDC and M23 cited by the Reuters news agency expressed their frustration with the rhythm of the negotiations.
The sources said that disagreements on possible measures of confidence construction, such as the release of prisoners of Heroes of the RDC accused or left to Rwanda and M23, had almost derailed the result.
However, ultimately, Qatar managed to press the two parties to release a joint statement that agreed to continue working on a truce, according to the informed diplomats cited by Reuters.
“This is a crucial step to end violence,” Maxime Prevot, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, said on Wednesday in a position on X.
Another informed source cited by the AFP news agency said that a “deepest round of discussions” in Doha “was expected in the coming weeks.”