DR Congo, Rwanda sign peace deal in ‘turning point’ after years of conflict.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have signed a peace deal in the United States to end years of fighting between the neighbouring countries.

Meeting at the State Department in Washington, DC, on Friday, foreign ministers from the two African countries signed the agreement that was mediated by the US and Qatar.

The deal would see Kinshasa and Kigali launching a regional economic integration framework within 90 days and forming a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days. Under its terms, thousands of Rwandan soldiers are to withdraw from the DRC within three months.

It raises hopes for an end to fighting that has escalated with the advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in the DRC’s mineral-rich provinces of North and South Kivu this year. The conflict has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more since January.

The escalation is just the latest in a decades-old cycle of tensions and violence, rooted in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Source: aljazeera