M23, DR Congo sign new peace roadmap in Doha

The Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 militia signed a new peace framework on Saturday in Qatar aimed at ending the fighting that has devastated eastern DRC.

Qatar, with the United States and the African Union, has shuttled between the two sides for months, hoping to end the conflict in DRC's mineral-rich east, where the M23 has captured key cities.

DRC and M23 signed a ceasefire deal and an earlier framework in July. But each side has accused the other of breaking the truce.

Hundreds of thousands of people have died in various conflicts in eastern DRC since the mid-1990s.

The signing of the new deal, the Doha Framework for a Comprehensive Peace Agreement, was completed at a ceremony attended by officials from the warring parties, as well as the United States and Qatar.

In a statement, Benjamin Mbonimpa, representing the M23 delegation in Doha, said the agreement contained "no binding clauses" and would not change "the situation on the ground".

The text contains eight chapters on the "root causes of the conflict", which will be negotiated "before reaching a comprehensive peace agreement", he said.

'Real' change needed

The DRC government said in a statement that the framework "aims to create, in the shortest time possible, the conditions for a real and measurable change for the people".

It said the eight chapters included the freeing of prisoners by both sides, humanitarian aid for the devastated east and an agreement on monitoring the ceasefire.

US President Donald Trump's envoy to Africa, Massad Boulos, told AFP that implementing the deal was "the most important aspect" and this was why "so many mechanisms have been put in place to address different elements of the implementation".

"We discussed eight areas of concern, and eight topics the two parties have agreed upon," Boulos said.

"They've signed it today, and this is a major milestone, but you can look at it as a launching pad for the entire process," he added.

The eight protocols, two of which have already been signed and cover a ceasefire-monitoring mechanism, also address humanitarian access, the return of displaced people and protection of the judiciary.

Since taking up arms again at the end of 2021, the M23 has seized swathes of eastern DRC with Rwanda's backing, triggering a spiralling humanitarian crisis.

Thousands were killed in a lightning offensive by the M23 in January and February, in which the group seized the key provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu.

Other militants also operate in the east and on Saturday, officials told AFP an attack by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) had left at least 18 people dead.

The group, founded by former Ugandan rebels who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State jihadist group in 2019, attacked a village around 300 kilometres (190 miles) north of Goma overnight Friday into Saturday.

The July deal signed in Doha followed an earlier, separate peace agreement between the Congolese and Rwandan governments made in Washington in June.

Kinshasa has demanded the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from its soil.

But Kigali says withdrawal is conditional on dismantling the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group formed by former Rwandan genocide leaders who have taken refuge in the DRC.

Qatar's chief negotiator, Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, called the new agreement "historic", adding that mediators would continue efforts to achieve peace on the ground.