Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), days after the government and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group signed a framework agreement for a peace deal aimed at ending fighting in the country’s east. On his first trip to the African country, the Qatari leader was welcomed in the capital Kinshasa on Friday by DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and other officials. The framework agreement was the latest in a series of documents signed in recent months as part of efforts, backed by the United States and Qatar, to end decades of fighting in eastern DRC that has been an enduring threat to regional stability.
The framework was described by the US and Qatari officials as an important step towards peace, but one of many that lie ahead. Sheikh Tamim arrived in the DRC a day after visiting Rwanda, where he met President Paul Kagame. Rwanda has long denied allegations that it has helped M23, which has seized more territory in the DRC than it has ever previously held. Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday for a state visit, receiving an official welcome ceremony in Kinshasa days after the DRC signed a peace agreement in Doha with the M23 rebel movement.
