KIGALI, Rwanda 

A conglomerate of various rebel groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo said on Monday that a US-brokered peace deal signed between Congo and Rwanda is “a step, albeit limited, but useful.”

However, Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) coordinator Corneille Nangaa said reducing the crisis in Congo to a mere conflict between Kigali and Kinshasa is an “unacceptable deception.”

The AFC includes rebel groups and political parties, including the armed group M23.

“This commitment covers only a tiny part of the real cause of the conflict. The legitimate demands of the AFC/M23 remain. They can only be addressed within an inclusive framework,” Nangaa said in a message marking Congo’s 65th independence anniversary from Belgian colonial rule.

The peace agreement, signed on Friday by the Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers, raises hopes of ending the intense fighting in eastern Congo.

Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, Congo’s foreign minister, described the initiative not only as a diplomatic victory but also as a triumph for the Congolese people.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said the agreement is based on a commitment to irreversibly and verifiably end state support for militia groups.

The deal also calls for a cessation of hostilities between the two neighboring countries’ armies.   

M23’s role in the conflict 

Clashes between M23 and government forces in eastern Congo displaced at least 500,000 and killed more than 3,000 by late February, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

The rebel group, supported by neighboring Rwanda, according to the UN and Western nations, now controls significant territory in eastern Congo, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu that it seized early this year.

Nduhungirehe told Anadolu that Rwanda has no comment on the AFC/M23’s statement.

“But we committed, in the Washington Peace Agreement, to support the ongoing negotiations in Doha between that movement and the DRC government,” he said.

Nangaa said the coalition supports the Doha talks mediated by Qatar as a framework that should impose direct discussions between the group and the Rwandan government.

“No military solution can resolve the Congolese crisis in the long term,” he said.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has long refused any negotiation with M23, a stance Nangaa denounced as a “betrayal of our future generations.”