Luanda – Angolan Head of StateJoão Lourenço on Wednesday said the latest events taking place on the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda are worrying.
Speaking at the Meeting of the African Union (AU) Bureau of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government held by video-conference, the Angolan President said the tension worries the neighbouring countries and the continent.
To keep open the door of dialogue, President João Lourenço informed that he has sent to Kinshasa (DRC) and Kigali (Rwanda) the Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António.
The Angolan president added that the ambassador Téte António met with the two heads of state and that the “The situation is indeed quite tense,” stressed the Angolan statesman, who advises dialogue to lower the tension.
“The parties must dialogue,” insisted President João Lourenço, who recognised, however, that there is no environment, at this moment, for the two parties to dialogue at the level of Heads of State.
The Angolan president explained that an agreement has been reached for the DRC and Rwanda intelligence services to meet Saturday in the Angolan capital, Luanda.
“The intention is for the parties to assess, from a technical point of view, what is really happening on the ground. We are also going to meet, in Luanda, the foreign ministers of the two countries, also next Saturday, “the Angolan statesman said.
The Angolan President also expressed satisfaction with the fact that Kenya “has taken another step towards the solution to this conflict that put two brotherly countries on opposite sides.
João Lourenço called for joint efforts to put an end to the growing tension that has been verified in the last weeks between the two countries.
In his speech, the Angolan Head of State said he is aware that the Rwandan ambassador to the DRC has been expelled by the authorities in Kinshasa.
After regretting the situation, Lourenço said that the DRC is “very sorry” with what is happening in its territory, having urged the two countries to exercise maximum restraint in the measures they intend to take.
“The door for dialogue must always be open at all levels (intelligence services, military, diplomacy and the heads of state themselves),” the Angolan president said.
Angola chairs the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), a geographic bloc to which Democratic Congo belongs.
Angolan Head of State mandated by the African Union to mediate the conflict, has multiplied the initiatives to reach peace.
The rising tension between neighboring DRC and Rwanda, countries of the Great Lakes, led the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo to travel to Angola at the beginning of June.
The tension between DRC and Rwanda has grown in recent months after fighting resumed in March between the DRC’s army and the M23 movement, which according to the Kinshasa authorities is supported by the neighboring country.
Source: Angola Press News Agency