By Sonia Rolley and Ange Kasongo
(Reuters) – Delegations representing Congo’s government and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have left peace talks in Qatar with no immediate plans to return, sources from both camps told Reuters, after making no significant progress towards a ceasefire.
M23 has staged an unprecedented advance since January, seizing eastern Congo’s two largest cities and raising fears of an all-out regional war.
As African mediation efforts faltered, Qatar last month brokered a surprise sit-down between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame during which the two leaders called for a ceasefire.
That was meant to lead to direct talks this month between the Democratic Republic of Congo and M23. But while the two sides sent delegations to Doha, the meetings quickly bogged down on technical details and potential confidence-building measures such as the release of Congo-held prisoners accused of links to Rwanda and M23, the sources said.
Sources from both sides said M23 had demanded the release of hundreds of prisoners, which the Congolese government refused.
“They are asking for too much. They don’t even control two of the 26 provinces,” a government source said.
“Hundreds of prisoners, charges dropped, convictions overturned – our justice system is independent. We cannot give in to every whim. Crimes have been committed. Some people must pay,” the government source added.
A source from the rebel coalition that includes M23 also said that all parties had left Doha after “prerequisites” proved to be an insurmountable “stumbling block” to substantive talks.
Beyond ending legal proceedings against its members, the source said M23 wants Tshisekedi to commit to a political dialogue.
Tshisekedi long rejected the idea of sitting down with M23, branding it a group of terrorists.
A United Nations source told Reuters on Wednesday that fighting had resumed in the territory of Walikale.
M23 withdrew from Walikale town, a strategic mining hub, earlier this month, a move it described as a goodwill gesture ahead of planned peace talks with the government.
The fighting in eastern Congo this year has resulted in thousands of deaths and forced hundreds of thousands more people from their homes.
(Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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