KAMPALA, (PNA/Xinhua) — Peace talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government and the M23 rebels continued here on Friday despite fighting back home.
Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the Ugandan military and the talks, told reporters that the parties have come to the Ugandan capital of Kampala to finalize a peace deal, saying eight out of 11 contentious issues have been agreed on.
“The talks are going on well and the two delegations are on the verge of signing a historical agreement,” he said.
Ugandan Minister of Defense Crispus Kiyonga, the mediator of the talks, asked the DRC government to cease fighting, the spokesman said. “It does not make sense for us to talk while fighting. This morning (Friday) we got a report that the guns have gone silent.”
He said Bertrand Bisimwa, head of the M23 rebels, has participated in the talks, contradicting earlier reports that Bisimwa had surrendered to the Ugandan authorities after the DRC government troops overran M23 bases in eastern DRC.
The movement was founded by ethnic Tutsi former rebels who were incorporated into the Congolese army in accordance with a 2009 peace deal but mutinied in April 2012.
The on-and-off peace talks between the DRC government and the M23 movement went stalled again last week after Kinshasa refused amnesty for about 80 rebel leaders.
The DRC army, supported by a special UN force, launched attacks on the rebels and has taken control of M23 strongholds.
Around 5,000 people have taken refuge across the border in Uganda since the beginning of the week, according to the UN’s refugee agency.
Ankunda said that most the Congolese refugees who had fled fighting are now returning home after M23 lost its bases.
He said Uganda’s position is that the DRC conflict cannot be solved militarily but politically.