Rwanda and Congo have agreed to reduce tensions following a one-day talks between their presidential mediators in Angola, the Congolese presidency said on Wednesday. The two countries will renew the Congo-Rwanda commission which will take effect on July 12 in the Angolan capital, Luanda, according to a statement. It also called for the restoration of normal relations between Kinshasa and Kigali, an end to the fighting and the “immediate and unconditional withdrawal” of the M23 rebel group from its post-eastern Congo.
There were no immediate reports of talks from Rwanda, with President Paul Kagame meeting with Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in Luanda, the capital of Angola, on Wednesday amid tensions. Rwanda and Congo have traded angry statements over allegations that Rwanda supports the M23, which is made up of mostly Congolese Tutsis. The M23 last month seized a Congolese city near the Ugandan border. Rwanda blames Congo for supporting a rebel group that allegedly took part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Both countries have denied the allegations. The African Union earlier this year called on Angola to negotiate between Congo and Rwanda under a regional organization known as the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.An estimated 170,000 people have been displaced in recent weeks since the M23 resurgence in eastern Congo. Wednesday’s conference called for all refugees to be repatriated, according to a statement from the Office of the President of Congo.
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