Govt drops demand for immediate Rwandan troop pullout

Congolese negotiators have dropped a demand that Rwandan troops immediately leave eastern DR Congo, paving the way for a US-brokered peace agreement to be signed between the longtime foes yesterday, four sources told Reuters.

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Rwanda has sent at least 7,000 soldiers over the border, according to analysts and diplomats, in support of the M23 rebels, who seized eastern Congo's two largest cities and lucrative mining areas in a lightning advance earlier this year.

Rwanda has long denied providing arms and troops to M23 and says it is acting in self-defence.

Congolese and Rwandan officials were expected to sign a peace deal in Washington yesterday following a diplomatic push by US President Donald Trump's administration to end years of conflict with roots in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

The agreement also aims to attract Western investment to the two countries’ mining sectors, which boast deposits of tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium, while giving the US access to critical minerals.