Congo and Rwanda will sign a US-mediated peace deal to end the conflict in eastern Congo

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda are set to sign a peace deal facilitated by the U.S. to help end the decades-long deadly fighting in eastern Congo.

The deal, which is due to be signed in Washington on Friday afternoon, would also help the U.S. government and American companies gain access to critical minerals in the region.

The Central African nation of Congo has been ripped apart by conflict with more than 100 armed groups. The most prominent is the M23 rebel group, backed by neighboring Rwanda, whose major advance early this year left bodies littered on the streets.

With 7 million people displaced in Congo, the United Nations has called it "one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth."

Lauded by U.S. President Donald Trump last week as “a Great Day for Africa and ... for the World,” the crucial deal comes as part of other ongoing peace talks to end the conflict, including ones mediated by the African Union and Qatar.

The agreement involves provisions on respect for territorial integrity, a prohibition of hostilities as well as the disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration of non-state armed groups, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told reporters on Thursday.

U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric also said on Thursday that such a deal is welcomed, adding: "We talk almost every day about … the horrific suffering of civilians, the hunger, the sexual violence, the constant fear, the constant displacement" in eastern Congo.

Peace deal not likely to quickly end the conflict

Congo hopes the U.S. will provide it with the security support needed to fight the rebels and possibly get them to withdraw from the key cities of Goma and Bukavu, and from the entire region where Rwanda is estimated to have up to 4,000 troops. Rwanda has said that it's defending its territorial interests and not supporting M23.

But M23 rebels have suggested that the agreement won’t be binding on them. The rebel group hasn't been directly involved in the planned peace deal, although it has been part of other ongoing peace talks.

Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance — known by its French acronym AFC — that includes M23, told The Associated Press in March that direct peace talks with Congo can only be held if the country acknowledges their grievances and that "anything regarding us which are done without us, it's against us."

An M23 spokesman, Oscar Balinda, also echoed those thoughts in an interview with the AP this week, saying the U.S.-facilitated deal doesn't concern the rebels.

Rwanda has also been accused of exploiting eastern Congo's minerals, a trend analysts say might make it difficult for Rwanda to not be involved in any way in the region. A team of U.N. experts alleged in a December report that "fraudulent extraction, trade and export to Rwanda of (Congo) minerals benefited both AFC/M23 and the Rwandan economy.” Rwanda has denied any involvement in Congo's minerals.

The deal is also at the heart of the U.S. government’s push to counter China in Africa. Chinese companies have been for many years one of the key players in Congo’s minerals sector. Chinese cobalt refineries, which account for a majority of the global supply, rely heavily on Congo.

U.S. role in ending the conflict

Analysts say the U.S. government's commitment might depend on how much access it has to the minerals being discussed under separate negotiations between the American and Congolese government.

The mostly untapped minerals — estimated to be worth as much as $24 trillion by the U.S. Department of Commerce — are critical to much of the world’s technology.

Christian Moleka, a political scientist at the Congolese think tank Dypol, called the planned deal a “major turning point” in the decades-long conflict, but that the signing could "in no way eliminate all the issues of the conflict.”

“The current draft agreement ignores war crimes and justice for victims by imposing a partnership between the victim and the aggressor,” he said. “This seems like a trigger-happy proposition and cannot establish lasting peace without justice and reparation.”

In Congo's North Kivu province, the hardest hit by the fighting, some believe that the peace deal will help resolve the violence, but warn justice must still be served for an enduring peace to take hold.

“I don't think the Americans should be trusted 100%,” said Hope Muhinuka, an activist from the province. “It is up to us to capitalize on all we have now as an opportunity.”

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Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Justin Kabumba in Goma, Congo, Ignatius Ssuuna in Kigali, Rwanda, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.