BBC :
The US ambassador to the UN has accused Rwanda of leading Africa’s Great Lakes region toward war, just over a week after a peace deal was signed in Washington to end the decades-long conflict.
US President Donald Trump Trump hailed the deal between DR Congo’s President FĂ©lix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame as “historic” and “a great day for Africa, great day for the world”.
But the M23 rebel group says it has “fully liberated” the key city of Uvira in an offensive the US and European powers say is backed by Rwanda. UN experts have previously accused it of having “de facto control” of the rebel force’s operations.
Rwanda denies the allegations, however, its presence in Washington was a tacit acknowledgment of its influence over the M23.
The rebels were not signatories to Trump’s deal – and have been taking part in a parallel peace process led by Qatar, a US ally.
The latest fighting risks further escalating an already deeply complex conflict.
Prof Jason Stearns, a Canada-based political scientist who specialises in the region, told the BBC that the view in M23 circles was that “they need more leverage in the negotiations”, while the feeling in the Rwandan government is that Tshisekedi cannot be trusted.
He added that the assault on Uvira, in South Kivu province, “flies in the face of all the negotiations that are under way”.
“It appears to humiliate the US government. I’m not sure what strategic purpose that would serve,” Prof Stearns told the BBC.
The M23’s new offensive in South Kivu started a few days before Kagame and Tshisekedi flew to Washington last week to ratify the agreement first hammered out in June.
Bram Verelst, a Burundi-based researcher with the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) think-tank, said the assault appeared to be an attempt to force Burundi to withdraw the troops it had in eastern DR Congo backing the army against the rebel forces and Rwanda.
