Details emerging from the Angolan Presidency have revealed that President of the Republic, João Lourenço, held a conversation this Wednesday with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron.
According to the Presidents handlers, the conversation between the two leaders focused largely on the ongoing conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
President João Lourenço currently chairs the International Conference on the. Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) an intergovernmental organization set up to address some of the bigger regional issues that affect the lives of people throughout the region.
In his capacity as ICGLR chair, President João Lourenço has more than once mediated talks between Rwanda and the DRC, however, Kinshasa has repeatedly faltered the Luanda accords.
Also Lourenço has repeatedly flown to Kigali and Kinshasa to meet with President Paul Kagame and President Felix Tshisekedi in continous effort to find solutions to the dangerous security situation in DRC.
Kinshasa has repeatedly accused Rwanda of aiding the M23 rebels who currently control vast territory in North Kivu and the fighting is still ongoing despite Nairobi and Luanda treaties ordering an immediate cease fire.
Meanwhile, Kigali accuses Kinshasa of providing cover to FDLR a designated terrorist organisation largely composed of perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda which claimed a million lives.
Kigali again says DRC is using the FDLR to fight against the M23 rebels. The FDLR with the help of DRC military FARDC have regularly conducted strikes into Rwanda territory destroying property and killing innocent civilians.
Discussions between President Macron and Lourenço noted that there is need for coordination between the different actors in the process so that there is progress and avoid any escalation.
