On Tuesday, those M23 representatives were back in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, where they sat waiting in a hotel for the Congolese government to send its delegation so that negotiations can resume. They do not even know when the Congolese delegation will be arriving, if at all, or when their Ugandan mediator is likely to set the agenda for the next round of talks.
Representatives of M23 — who arrived in Uganda on Sunday — now appear enthusiastic about achieving a negotiated peace regardless of U.N. plans for eastern Congo, a change of tune that illustrates the success of international military pressure on rebels who not long ago were warning of a return to full-blown war if U.N. peacekeepers mandated to fight were deployed in eastern Congo.
Rene Abandi, who heads the M23 delegation to the peace talks, told The Associated Press that his group would stick it out in Kampala until Kinshasa sends its delegation.
“We are still committed to the dialogue, the ceasefire, and to solving the root cause of the conflict,” he said.
