Rwanda's Kagame unsure whether peace deal with Congo will hold
FILE PHOTO: Rwanda's President Paul Kagame of the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) party sits to submit his candidature, where he seeks re-election in the upcoming polls due in July at Rwanda's National Election Commission in Kiyovu, Kigali, Rwanda May 17, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo
NAIROBI - Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on Friday he was unsure whether a U.S.-brokered peace deal would hold with neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
The agreement calls for Rwandan troops to withdraw within 90 days from eastern Congo, where the United Nations says they are supporting M23 rebels who seized the region's two largest cities earlier this year.
Rwanda denies helping M23 and says its forces are acting in self-defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, including from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Kagame told reporters Rwanda was committed to implementing the deal but that it could fail if Congo did not live up to its promises to neutralise the FDLR.
"If the side that we are working with plays tricks and takes us back to the problem, then we deal with the problem like we have been dealing with it," Kagame said.
Kagame said he was grateful for the involvement of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration in mediation efforts.
"If it doesn't work, they aren't the ones to blame," he said.
Congo's government and M23 said on Thursday they would send delegations back to Qatar for parallel talks aimed at ending the conflict, which has killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands more since January. REUTERS
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