Democratic Eastern Congo: President Tshisekedi rules out dialog with rebels

SDA

23.2.2025 - 10:44

ARCHIVE - Félix Tshisekedi is the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo: Ben Curtis/AP/dpa
ARCHIVE - Félix Tshisekedi is the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo: Ben Curtis/AP/dpa
Keystone

The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, has once again ruled out a dialog with the rebel militia M23, which continues to advance in the country, and announced the formation of a government of national unity. "Let us not be distracted by internal tensions and manipulation from outside. We must unite," he said at a press conference after a meeting with the leaders of his coalition government on Saturday evening (local time).

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He did not give any details on what exactly a government of national unity should look like. He wanted to seek talks with various party leaders in the country next week. Regarding the ongoing conflict in the resource-rich east of the huge country, he said that the army had lost two battles, but not the war.

The security situation in the country has recently deteriorated further. The M23 militia, which has controlled large areas in the province of North Kivu for years, has been making major territorial gains since the end of January and was able to take control first of the megacity of Goma and then of the provincial capital Bukavu in the neighboring province of South Kivu.

Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands are on the run. At a crisis summit of the communities of states in East Africa and Southern Africa at the beginning of February, Tshisekedi was called upon to negotiate with the M23 in order to resolve the conflict.

M23 continues to advance into South Kivu province

The government in Kinshasa accuses neighboring Rwanda of supporting the rebels. Tshisekedi sees Kinshasa's diplomatic success in the fact that the UN Security Council called on Rwanda to stop supporting the M23 and withdraw its troops from eastern Congo immediately in its latest resolution on the conflict.

The president now announced army reforms and better pay for soldiers, but also spoke of betrayal within the army. After the conquest of Goma, the M23, which according to experts makes millions of dollars a month by smuggling and selling valuable raw materials such as coltan, offered soldiers from the government army a salary of several hundred US dollars if they joined the rebels.

Meanwhile, the M23 continues to advance in the province of South Kivu and is fighting in the border region with Burundi. Residents of the area have already fled the fighting to the neighboring country.