Congo peace talks would be weakened by Rwandan sanctions, a banned minister claims

A banned Rwandan minister has stated that international sanctions on Rwanda will lessen Kinshasa’s will to hold peace negotiations with M23 rebels who have made significant strides in eastern Congo this year.

In a speech on Tuesday, Rwandan State Minister for Foreign Affairs James Kabarebe stated, “As they push for sanctions against Rwanda, (Congo’s president), seeing that Rwanda is being targeted, will refuse to participate in any negotiations.”

Over the past month, M23 rebels backed by Rwanda have taken control of the two biggest cities in eastern Congo, in a conflict that has forced around half a million people to flee their homes since January.

Kabarebe was subject to sanctions last Thursday by the US Treasury because of his suspected involvement as a government liaison to the M23. He didn’t mention the penalties against himself in his remarks.

In addition to imposing other diplomatic penalties on Kigali, Britain announced on Tuesday that it would suspend certain bilateral funding to Rwanda until major progress was made in putting an end to the conflict and the departure of all Rwandan troops from Congolese territory, which the UN estimates to be several thousand.

On Monday, the European Union announced that it would reexamine its strategic minerals deal with Rwanda due to Kigali’s ties to the rebels.

In response to the Congolese army and anti-Kigali militias, Rwanda claims its forces are defending themselves and denies supplying M23 with weapons and troops.

President Felix Tshisekedi of Congo, who has declined to engage in negotiations with M23, was again accused by Kabarebe in his speech of providing minerals to the international community in return for sanctions.

Tshisekedi has welcomed U.S. corporations to buy vital raw materials directly from Kinshasa instead of “smuggling” them through Rwanda, according to Tina Salama, the president of Congo’s spokesperson, who did not immediately reply to Reuters’ request for comment.

Former Kenyan and Nigerian presidents as well as the former Ethiopian prime minister were named by African leaders on Monday to mediate the continuing peace process.

Kabarebe, who has been a close supporter of President Paul Kagame for many years, has been instrumental in a number of insurgencies in Congo that Rwanda has supported since the middle of the 1990s.

A humanitarian crisis is already plaguing the region, and the most recent fighting has heightened fears of a regional conflict similar to those that killed millions between 1996 and 2003, the majority of whom perished from disease and starvation.

Countries in Eastern and Southern Africa are considering the prospect of sending African Union (AU) soldiers to safeguard M23-controlled territories in addition to a more robust U.N. peacekeeping effort.