To put an end to the conflict, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the M23 rebels have agreed to a ceasefire in Qatar. The agreement that was reached on Saturday and was seen by the BBC is referred to as the Declaration of Principles. It states that both sides must refrain from attacks, "hate propaganda," and "any attempt to seize by force new positions on the ground." The declaration is meant to serve as a road map to a final agreement. The two parties agreed to carry out the terms of the deal by July 29. The final peace agreement must coincide with the US-mediated agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo that was reached last month. Rwanda denies that it supports M23. This year, M23 rebels took control of a lot of the mineral-rich eastern DR Congo, including the regional capital of Goma, the city of Bukavu, and two airports, escalating decades of conflict. The United Nations claims that since then, thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forced from their homes. The M23 denies the numbers, claiming that less than 1,000 people have died. According to Patrick Muyaya, a spokesperson for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the agreement considered the "red line" of the government, which included the "non-negotiable withdrawal" of the M23 from occupied areas. However, M23 negotiator Benjamin Mbonimpa stated in a video that was uploaded to X that the agreement did not include such a pull-out. Since the rebels launched their offensive at the beginning of the year, this is the first direct agreement between the two sides. Qatar stated that negotiations would continue. The declaration was hailed by the African Union Commission as a "milestone" toward long-term regional security and peace efforts. A commitment to restoring state authority in eastern DR Congo is also outlined in the declaration. The most recent in a long line of failed peace agreements in the region is this one. The M23 rebels, one of the main players in the current conflict, emerged from a peace deal that failed 16 years ago and never delivered on demobilization. When President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda met in Qatar in March, they both demanded an immediate ceasefire. DR Congo and the M23 group reached a ceasefire the following month, which Qatar helped facilitate, but fighting continued on the ground. Access to the vast mineral wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a major motivation for the United States' intervention, and the Washington deal, which was reached in June, has been widely criticized. Trump made a big deal of this achievement. Tshisekedi and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame have been rumored to travel to Washington to meet with Trump together, but no date has been set.
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