This Sunday, February 18, at the 37th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Addis Ababa. The question of the rotating presidency was resolved, for this year, with the appointment of Mohamed Ould Ghazouani of Mauritania. Participants are now trying to move on to other critical issues, including violence in eastern DRC.
Published on:
2 minutes
With our special correspondent in Addis Ababa, Sidi Yansane
Among the critical issues is the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is experiencing renewed violence along the Rwandan border. The Congolese, South African and Burundian presidents met this Sunday morning.
Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi, spoke with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, and his Burundian counterpart, Evariste Ndayashimiye, at the Hyatt Hotel on the sidelines of the summit. The tripartite meeting was aimed at taking stock of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) troop deployment in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Also readThe 37th AU Summit opened against the backdrop of multiple crises in Africa and internationally
Elements of this regional military force were sent late last year to the city of Goma, which is currently besieged by M23 rebels. It was South African troops who arrived first to support the Congolese army in this conflict. Pretoria also announced this week that two of its soldiers had been killed in combat around the city of Sake. Burundi also sent troops to the area as part of a bilateral agreement with the DRC.
According to the Congolese Presidency, the meeting of the three heads of state served to define a better coordination of operations on the ground, while earlier in the week, Goma airport was attacked by drones targeting Congolese army aircraft. The latter blamed neighboring Rwanda for the attack which caused only minor damage.
Last night, the United States strongly condemned the escalation of violence by M23, which it says is backed by Rwanda, and called for the armed group to withdraw from Goma and Sake. Americans used to call Kigali directly too. Immediate withdrawal of all Rwandan Defense Force personnel from the DRC and removal of its surface-to-air missile systems. ยป
Also readMauritania assumed the rotating presidency of the African Union, ending months of impasse
