DRC, Rwanda peace deal faces another setback

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda will not sign an economic framework this week as expected, four sources told Reuters, in another stumbling block for the Trump administration's efforts to implement a peace deal and spur Western investment in the region. According to the Straits Times, President Donald Trump is pursuing an ambitious bid to broker peace and draw billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized two major cities in eastern Congo in January and February, posing the biggest threat to the government in Kinshasa in two decades. Though he says the war is over, the peace agreement reached in Washington in June has faced setbacks and Congo's army and M23 rebels are reinforcing military positions and blaming each other for going back on various agreements.

The DRC and Rwanda, which denies supporting M23, were expected to initial an agreement known as the Regional Economic Integration Framework this week after a final round of negotiations in Washington. But a Rwandan official said that while the text was finalised, negotiations concluded without any initialling after Kinshasa was unwilling to sign. A source said Congo would not sign the economic framework until 90% of Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern Congo, according to the Straits Times. The withdrawal of Rwandan troops is part of a wider peace deal mediated by Washington that the countries signed.  ‘They're going to have to get Trump on the phone,’ the source said. The US is trying to get the process back on track, the Rwandan official said.