UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday demanded the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) “territorial integrity” be respected and a regional war avoided, at an African summit the day after Rwandan-backed fighters seized a second DRC provincial capital.
With international pressure mounting on Rwanda to curb the fighting in eastern DRC, the conflict was set to dominate the African Union (AU) summit, which opened in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, on Saturday morning.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame was seen attending meetings at the gathering.
Photo: Reuters
However, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi was absent from the summit as fighters from the M23 group took more territory.
Having routed the Congolese army to capture the key provincial capital of Goma in North Kivu last month, the Rwandan-backed armed group has since pushed into neighbouring South Kivu.
It took a key airport there before marching largely unchecked into the city of Bukavu on Friday, security and humanitarian sources said.
“The fighting that is raging in South Kivu — as a result of the continuation of the M23 offensive — threatens to push the entire region over the precipice,” Guterres said without mentioning Rwanda.
He urged dialogue, saying a regional escalation must be avoided “at all costs” with “no military solution.”
“The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC must be respected,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron on X said he had spoken with Tshisekedi while stressing the need for Rwanda to back urgent measures including an M23 withdrawal from Bukavu and a ceasefire.
The AU has been criticized for its timid approach in the face of a possible regional conflagration.
The EU on Saturday said it was “urgently” considering all options following the news from Bukavu.
“The ongoing violation of the DRC’s territorial integrity will not go unanswered,” it said.
Guterres in a later press conference said that Africa was “the key to the solution of the problem.”
A meeting of the AU’s Peace and Security Council dedicated to the conflict ran late into Friday evening, with neither Kagame nor Tshisekedi attending.
A government source said Tshisekedi would not be at the summit either as he had to “closely follow the situation on the ground.”
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