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Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Congo, Rwanda Sign US-Backed Peace Deal to End Years of War
By Updated on Save The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda agreed to a US-backed peace deal meant to end years of deadly conflict and promote development in Congo's volatile eastern region. Foreign ministers from the two countries signed the accord Friday in the presence of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office later in the day.
The South African
an hour ago
- Business
- The South African
Can peace hold? Rwanda and DRC deal to end regional conflict
A peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was signed in Washington on 27 June 2025. With diplomatic support from allies in the region, the United States and Qatar helped to broker the deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the event at the State Department in Washington, DC. Furthermore, the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group did not sign the accord but remains central to the continued peaceful dialogue in Doha. In addition, within 90 days, both countries agreed to implement a disengagement plan for 2024. The agreement includes a framework for regional economic integration as well as a framework for cooperative security. According to the agreement, Rwanda has ninety days to withdraw its troops from the east of the DRC. As a result, DRC will mandate an operational strategy for the neutralisation of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), provided Rwanda removes its defensive measures. The deal makes it easier for the Congolese government and M23 representatives to negotiate in Qatar. Within 30 days, a cooperative security oversight body will proceed to guarantee compliance. Enhancing regional trade in vital minerals like cobalt and lithium is another goal of the agreement. The United States will have access to mineral rights in the DRC, according to President Donald Trump. Rwanda's foreign minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe, described the deal as 'a turning point' for the area. The DRC's foreign minister, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, stressed the importance of justice and sovereignty. The agreement could allow for billions of dollars in Western investment in the region, according to U.S. officials. Over seven million people are displaced in the east of the DRC, and the agreement included a commitment to protect and advance humanitarian access for those affected. Within a few weeks, heads of state will be concluding a comprehensive economic protocol in Washington. Before the endorsement of the economic framework commences, progress in the Doha negotiations is considered a crucial priority. The peace deal includes procedures for verifying the disarmament of militias and the withdrawal of the army from the region. Trump's Africa advisor, Massad Boulos, affirmed the United States' involvement in facilitating the minerals deal. Regional analysts and experts, including Michelle Gavin of the Council on Foreign Relations, expressed concern that the deal does not adequately address M23's territorial gains. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 11. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news
CNN
an hour ago
- Politics
- CNN
US did not use bunker-buster bombs on one of Iran's nuclear sites, top general tells lawmakers, citing depth of the target
Washington CNN — The US military did not use bunker-buster bombs on one of Iran's largest nuclear sites last weekend because the site is so deep that the bombs likely would not have been effective, the US' top general told senators during a briefing on Thursday. The comment by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, which was described by three people who heard his remarks and a fourth who was briefed on them, is the first known explanation given for why the US military did not use the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb against the Isfahan site in central Iran. US officials believe Isfahan's underground structures house nearly 60% of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile, which Iran would need in order to ever produce a nuclear weapon. US B2 bombers dropped over a dozen bunker-buster bombs on Iran's Fordow and Natanz nuclear sites. But Isfahan was only struck by Tomahawk missiles launched from a US submarine. The classified briefing to lawmakers was conducted by Caine, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. A spokesperson for Caine declined to comment, noting that he cannot comment on the chairman's classified briefing to Congress. During the briefing, Ratcliffe told lawmakers that the US intelligence community assesses that the majority of Iran's enriched nuclear material is buried at Isfahan and Fordow, according to a US official. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy told CNN on Thursday night after receiving the briefing that some of Iran's capabilities 'are so far underground that we can never reach them. So they have the ability to move a lot of what has been saved into areas where there's no American bombing capacity that can reach it.' An early assessment produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency in the day after the US strikes said the attack did not destroy the core components of the country's nuclear program, including its enriched uranium, and likely only set the program back by months, CNN has reported. It also said Iran may have moved some of the enriched uranium out of the sites before they were attacked. The Trump officials who briefed lawmakers this week sidestepped questions about the whereabouts of Iran's stockpile of already-enriched uranium. President Donald Trump again claimed Friday that nothing was moved from the three Iranian sites before the US military operation. But Republican lawmakers emerged from the classified briefings on Thursday acknowledging that the US military strikes may not have eliminated all of Iran's nuclear materials. But they argued that doing so was not part of the military's mission. 'There is enriched uranium in the facilities that moves around, but that was not the intent or the mission,' Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas told CNN. 'My understanding is most of it's still there. So we need a full accounting. That's why Iran has to come to the table directly with us, so the (International Atomic Energy Agency) can account for every ounce of enriched uranium that's there. I don't think it's going out of the country, I think it's at the facilities.' 'The purpose of the mission was to eliminate certain particular aspects of their nuclear program. Those were eliminated. To get rid of the nuclear material was not part of the mission,' GOP Rep. Greg Murphy told CNN. 'Here's where we're at: the program was obliterated at those three sites. But they still have ambitions,' said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. 'I don't know where the 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium exists. But it wasn't part of the targets there.' '(The sites) were obliterated. Nobody can use them anytime soon,' Graham also said. Weapons expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies Jeffrey Lewis told CNN that commercial satellite images show that Iran has accessed the tunnels at Isfahan. 'There were a moderate number of vehicles present at Isfahan on June 26 and at least one of the tunnel entrances was cleared of obstructions by mid-morning June 27,' Lewis said. 'If Iran's stockpile of (highly enriched uranium) was still in the tunnel when Iran sealed the entrances, it may be elsewhere now.' Additional satellite imagery captured on June 27 by Planet Labs show the entrance to the tunnels were open at the time, according to Lewis. The preliminary DIA assessment noted that the nuclear sites' above ground structures were moderately to severely damaged, CNN has reported. That damage could make it a lot harder for Iran to access any enriched uranium that does remain underground, sources said, something that Graham alluded to on Thursday. 'These strikes did a lot of damage to those three facilities,' Murphy, the Connecticut Democrat, told CNN on Thursday night. 'But Iran still has the know-how to put back together a nuclear program. And if they still have that enriched material, and if they still have centrifuges, and if they still have the capability to very quickly move those centrifuges into what we call a cascade, we have not set back that program by years. We have set it back by months.' Caine and Hegseth on Thursday said the military operation against Fordow went exactly as planned but did not mention the impacts to Isfahan and Natanz.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rwanda, Congo sign U.S.-brokered peace deal in Washington
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo signed a U.S.-brokered peace agreement on Friday, raising hopes for an end to fighting that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more so far this year. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the two countries' foreign ministers at the Department of State in Washington for the signing of the agreement.
E&E News
3 hours ago
- Politics
- E&E News
White House finalizes African mineral, peace deal
President Donald Trump on Friday finalized an agreement to quell fighting across Africa and boost U.S. access to the mineral-rich Congo amid congressional concerns and demands for more information. The president, flanked by foreign ministers from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, signed a peace treaty that he said will end more than three decades of conflict that's led to about 6 million deaths. 'I think both of you have said 'that's enough,'' Trump said at the White House ceremony, nodding to the ministers of the two countries. Advertisement Noticeably missing were Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the two leaders would be in Washington to sign the deal at a ceremony later this month. Trump signed letters inviting the leaders to the White House.
