DR Congo president slams 'barbaric war' in talks with Comoros leader
President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi (L) inspects the guard of honor upon arrival during the extraordinary Summit of East African Community Heads of State at the state house in Bujumbura, Burundi, on February 4, 2023.PHOTO / AFP
What you need to know:
- President Felix Tshisekedi held talks with his Comoros counterpart Azali Assoumani, who is tipped to take over the rotating presidency of the African Union (AU) from Senegal next week
The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday denounced the "barbaric war" being waged in the east of his country, during a visit to the small island nation of the Comoros.
President Felix Tshisekedi held talks with his Comoros counterpart Azali Assoumani, who is tipped to take over the rotating presidency of the African Union (AU) from Senegal next week.
Tshisekedi was also in Angola earlier this week for talks with President Joao Lourenco, who is the AU mediator between the DRC and Rwanda in the conflict raging in eastern DR Congo.
"Everywhere I went I spoke about my country and this barbaric war imposed on us by Rwanda," Tshisekedi said, expressing the hope that Assoumani will make the crisis a priority and "can bring peace there".
Residents dismantle a vehicle belonging to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) in Kanyaruchinya, Nyiragongo territory, Democratic Republic of Congo, February 8, 2023, after it was set on fire overnight by angry residents.
The DRC accuses its smaller central African neighbour Rwanda of backing the M23 rebel group in the conflict.
Kigali denies this and accuses Kinshasa of colluding with the FDLR -- a former Rwandan Hutu rebel group established in the DRC after the 1994 genocide of mainly Tutsis in Rwanda.
"We have indeed reviewed all the conflicts in Africa and we could not not talk about the problem of the Great Lakes," the Comoros president told journalists.
The 64-year-old Assoumani is in the race for the AU presidency at a summit due later this month.
