Congo’s government and M23 rebels recently held private talks in Qatar for the first time since the rebels conducted a lightning offensive in the country’s east. The talks offer the greatest hope of a halt to hostilities since M23 seized eastern Congo’s two largest cities, a rapid advance that since January has resulted in thousands of deaths and forced hundreds of thousands more from their homes .The fighting has raised fears of a wider regional war, as Congo’s neighbours Uganda and Burundi also have troops in the region.
M23 pledged to withdraw from Walikale last month, but initially failed to do so, accusing the Congolese army of going back on its commitments and not withdrawing attack drones.
The United Nations and Western governments say Rwanda has provided arms and troops to the ethnic Tutsi-led M23. Rwanda has denied backing M23 and says its military has acted in self-defence against Congo’s army and a militia founded by perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.
