Congo and Rwanda sign a US-mediated peace deal aimed at ending decades of bloody conflict

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda on Friday signed a peace deal facilitated by the USA to help end the decades-long deadly fighting in eastern Congo while helping the US government and American companies gain access to critical minerals in the region.

- AGENCIES

"Today, the violence and destruction comes to an end, and the entire region begins a new chapter of hope and opportunity, harmony, prosperity and peace," President Donald Trump told the foreign ministers of the two countries at a White House meeting.

The agreement was signed earlier at the State Department's Treaty Room beneath a portrait of Colin Powell, the first African American to hold the job of top US diplomat. There, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it "an important moment after 30 years of war."

The Central African nation of Congo has been wracked by conflict with more than 100 armed groups, the most potent backed by Rwanda, that have killed millions since the 1990s.