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Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has ruled out the participation of the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group in a national dialogue intended at reconciliation in the conflict-wracked country.
In a speech broadcast on national television on Thursday, the Democratic Republic of Congo leader said a peace agreement signed in December in Washington was the “appropriate framework” for dealing with the M23.
“The national dialogue will not substitute for this process,” he added.
DR Congo, in central Africa, has been repeatedly hit by conflict in the mineral-rich east, in particular the resurgence of the M23 group since 2021.
Fighters have seized swathes of territory and the December peace deal has failed to end the fighting.
Some opposition figures want representatives of the M23 or former president Joseph Kabila to take part in the national dialogue that Tshisekedi announced in mid-July.
Kabila was sentenced to death in his absence in September last year for “complicity” with the group.
But after ruling out their involvement in the talks, the president said “a path to reintegration within the national community” remained open for those renouncing violence and condemning aggression.
Consultations would take up to three months, he added, with the resulting document being used as a basis for “national talks” and a “national pact” based on “peace, national unity and the higher interest of the republic”.
