Angola says DR Congo and M23 would hold direct negotiations

Angola stated on Tuesday, March 11, that DR Congo may hold “direct negotiations” with M23 rebels in the days ahead.

Following his visit to Angola on Tuesday, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi—who has always denied holding negotiations with the rebels—has now made this announcement.

Government troops were forced to evacuate or surrender after the M23 rebels, who are affiliated with the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), seized control of Goma and Bukavu, two important cities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In order to negotiate a permanent peace in that brother country, Lourenço “will establish contacts with the M23, so that delegations from [DR Congo] and the M23 carry out direct negotiations to take place in Luanda in the next few days,” the Angolan presidency announced on Tuesday.

The Congolese government and the M23 rebel organization may be interacting directly for the first time.

As a mediator of the Luanda peace process for DR Congo since mid-2022, the Angolan leader’s efforts ended in December 2024 when the Congolese government refused to sign a deal that would allow direct talks with the rebels, who currently hold the capital cities of North and South Kivu provinces.

As a result of Kinshasa’s accusations that Kigali backed the rebel group, the Luanda process also aimed to restore relations between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rejecting the accusations, Rwanda cites security concerns, including DR Congo’s cooperation with FDLR, a UN-sanctioned group connected to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi.

Local opposition figures, such as his predecessor Joseph Kabila, have been putting increasing pressure on Tshisekedi after he was accused of mishandling the problem.

Additionally, the world community and regional leaders have been urging him to negotiate with the rebels. The Congolese government was accused by the AFC/M23 of backing militias that were determined to ethnically cleanse the country’s Tutsi population.

The FDLR, a member of the Congolese government coalition battling the M23, is one of these militias. Burundian army, Southern African Development Community (SADC) troops, European mercenaries, and Wazalendo, a local armed group, are all part of the coalition.