Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tete Antonio, is in Rwanda for an official visit.

His visit is preceding that of Angola’s President, João Lourenço, who is the chair of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), Tete said in a tweet.

The minister confirmed his arrival in Kigali on Thursday, November 10, as his country is the mediator between Rwanda and DR Congo, whose relations have soured since the Congolese government expelled the Rwandan ambassador.

Last week in Luanda, the Angolan chief diplomat met his counterparts Vincent Biruta of Rwanda and Christophe Lutundula of DR Congo, and discussed ways to normalise their strained relations through the regional mechanism called the Luanda roadmap.

Tete arrived in Rwanda from Goma in eastern DR Congo, where he had accompanied Lt Gen Nassome Joao, who began his duty as the head of the ICGLR’s ad hoc verification mechanism established in the context of the Luanda roadmap.

DR Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group fighting government forces (FARDC) in the country’s east – allegations Kigali has long dismissed, calling the conflict an intra-Congolese issue.

Rwanda has instead denounced the collaboration between the FARDC and the FDLR, a Congo-based militia, whose members are accused of genocide crimes in Rwanda.

Different regional mechanisms have been established to end the conflict in eastern DR Congo, including the Nairobi process, in which the Congolese government negotiates with the many armed groups operating in the country.