 "Members of the M23 rebel group gather on their pick-up truck after recovering guns during a community street cleaning exercise called Salongo, aimed at strengthening local solidarity conducted by members of the M23 rebels, following their takeover of Bukavu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. File image/ Reuters")
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo conducted the first meeting of a joint oversight committee on Thursday, taking a step towards implementing a peace pact reached in Washington last month, even if additional commitments remain unfulfilled.
The African Union, Qatar, and the United States attended the committee’s meeting in Washington, which was formed as a platform to discuss the peace agreement’s implementation and dispute settlement.
The June agreement between Rwanda and Congo marked a watershed moment in US President Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to end the fighting that has killed thousands and drawn billions of dollars in Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium, and other minerals.
In the Washington agreement, the two African countries pledged to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern Congo within 90 days.
It also said Congo and Rwanda would form a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days and implement a plan agreed last year to monitor and verify the withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers within three months.
Congolese military operations targeting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Congo-based armed group that includes remnants of Rwanda’s former army and militias that carried out a 1994 genocide, are meant to conclude over the same timeframe.
But 30 days from the signing has passed without a meeting of the joint security coordination mechanism, and operations targeting the FDLR and the withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers have yet to begin.
The joint oversight committee meeting, due to meet within 45 days of the signing, was on schedule.
Trump’s senior Africa adviser, Massad Boulos, told reporters on Wednesday that the deal was not off track, adding that a meeting of the security mechanism was due to be announced in coming days.
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More ShortsAsked about lack of progress on operations against the FDLR and withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers, Boulos said: “There was no timeline for that… if you look at the chronology of what we’ve been able to do since April, it’s been extensive, and it’s been very much on point and very much in line with our aspirations. So it’s not off track in any way.”
But sources with knowledge of the negotiations recognised delays in the implementation of the deal, but added it was not yet threatening the deal as a whole.
Military and diplomatic sources told Reuters that the parties in conflict, including armed groups as M23 and militia fighters known as Wazalendo, have strengthened their military presence on the front lines.