Signing of the Doha peace deal last month
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Only the full implementation of the declaration of principles, which includes the release of prisoners, would enable the next round of talks to proceed, the AFC-M23 rebels have disclosed.
According to a statement they issued and circulated on Sunday, they said that while they didn’t expect significant progress from the talks, they would send a small delegation in the coming days.
“This is because we have received immense pressure from the Qatari negotiators,” said M23.
Under a mediation effort hosted by Qatar, Congo and the rebels signed a declaration of principles on July 19 in which they vowed to start negotiating a deal no later than August 8 with the goal of reaching it by August 18.
With this agreement, the two parties committed to a ceasefire. It was also supposed to pave the way for further peace negotiations, with the goal of reaching a deal by 18 August.
But the rebels said that all is not lost. “Our delegation will simply reinforce the need to implement these measures before we can engage in negotiations.”
A governmental source said authorities had received a draft agreement from the mediation team, and both parties are working on their comments before delegates return to Doha later this week.
The Congolese army last week accused the M23 of threatening the ceasefire by launching multiple attacks in the east of the country.
“All attacks against civilians must stop immediately, and all those responsible must be held to account”, said Jeremy Laurence, the Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in reaction to the death of 319 in recent M23 attacks.
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