PHOTOS: Angola hosts meet between Rwanda, DR Congo foreign ministers

Angola's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, July 30, hosted the second ministerial meeting on the security and peace situation in eastern DR Congo. The meeting mediated by Angolan foreign minister Tete Antonio was attended by his Rwandan and Congolese counterparts, Olivier Nduhungirehe and Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, respectively. Since the morning of Tuesday, July 30, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been hosting the 2nd Ministerial Meeting on the Security and Peace Situation in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. pic.twitter.com/Oelk2alsVQ — Ministério das Relações Exteriores/MRE -(Angola) (@angola_Mirex) July 30, 2024 It was the second time in 2024 that Rwandan and Congolese foreign ministers met in the Angolan capital Luanda over the conflict in eastern DR Congo, which affected the two countries relations. The first meeting was in March. ALSO READ: Rwanda ensures defence measures amid ‘serious threat’ from DR Congo Angola’s President Joao Lourenço is the mediator between Rwanda and DR Congo, under the African Union-backed Luanda Process, which was initiated in mid-2022 to mend diplomatic relations that were affected by the conflict in North Kivu province, where a government-led coalition is fighting the M23 rebels, a Congolese rebel group fighting to protect persecuted communities in DR Congo. DR Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting the rebels, allegations the Rwandan government dismisses. Rwanda accuses the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) of integrating the FDLR, a UN-sanctioned militia linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The militia was formed in DR Congo, in mid 2000, by the masterminds of the Genocide, which claimed more than one million lives. In the conflict in North Kivu, the FDLR is part of the FARDC coalition that also includes Burundian forces, troops from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), local groups known as Wazalendo and European mercenaries. ALSO READ: FDLR supremo on how Kinshasa collaborates with genocidal militia For years, Rwanda has asked the Congolese government to disarm the genocidal FDLR and address the root causes of the conflict in its eastern provinces. The root causes of the violence in eastern DR Congo include decades-long persecution and alienation of Kinyarwanda-speaking communities. The FDLR is spreading violence and hate speech against the Congolese Tutsi communities. The decades of conflict have produced hundreds of thousands of refugees in the region, with Rwanda hosting more than 100,000 of them. Many of the refugees have lived in Rwandan camps for nearly 30 years.

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PHOTOS: Angola hosts meet between Rwanda, DR Congo foreign ministers