The leader of the rebel coalition controlling large parts of eastern Congo has dismissed the relevance of ceasefire discussions held between the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in Qatar, stating that his group remains committed to its fight.
Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame met in Doha on Tuesday, marking their first direct talks since the latest M23 offensive, which has resulted in the group’s largest territorial gains yet.
The meeting followed M23’s abrupt withdrawal from planned negotiations with Tshisekedi’s government in Angola.
“We will fight until our cause is heard,” Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), which includes M23, told Reuters on Thursday. “As long as we don’t know the details of what happened in Doha and as long as it doesn’t address our concerns, it doesn’t concern us.”
Nangaa also rejected the idea of a potential minerals-for-security agreement with the United States, a deal the U.S. State Department recently said it was open to exploring with Kinshasa.
“The Congolese people, who are sovereign, will block the way to this treachery, this deception,” he said.
