Rwanda-backed rebels accuse the US of falling short as a peace mediator in Congo's conflict

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DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Rebels in Congo say the United States has fallen short as a mediator in efforts to end the conflict in the African country's mineral-rich east as the Trump administration seeks to open the region’s critical reserves to the U.S. government and American companies.

According to a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio from Congolese rebel leader Corneille Nangaa, Washington has failed to pressure Congo’s government over its alleged violations of peace commitments.

The letter, seen by The Associated Press on Saturday, was signed by the Congo River Alliance, which includes the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group.

Congo and Rwanda agreed last year to a U.S.-mediated peace deal aimed at ending the long-running conflict in eastern Congo, an accord that would define terms of economic partnership involving the three countries and unlock deals on rare earth minerals.

At the time, U.S. President Donald Trump praised the leaders of the two nations — Presidents Felix Tshisekedi of Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda. Trump has since often cited his success in negotiating the deal. However, fighting in the region continues, with both rebel and government forces accusing each other of violating peace terms.

The letter to Rubio also criticized the U.S. for sanctioning “actors critical of the authorities in power” in Kinshasa, Congo's capital — a reference to U.S. sanctions on former Congolese President Joseph Kabila last week over his alleged role in funding and supporting to the rebels. Earlier this year, Washington also sanctioned Rwanda's military and four of its senior officials for supporting M23.

“Your administration has neither imposed any sanctions nor issued even a simple warning to the leaders in Kinshasa, whose intransigent and arrogant attitude calls into question the impartiality and neutrality of the American Facilitator/Mediator," the letter said.

"The absence of clearly identifiable corrective measures fuels questions regarding the facilitation’s ability to preserve, over time, the requirements of impartiality and neutrality that are essential to its credibility,” it added.

Congo, the U.S. and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which has grown from hundreds of members in 2021 to around 6,500 fighters, according to the United Nations.

Eastern Congo has been battered by decades of unrest as government forces fight more than 100 armed groups, the most potent being M23, often over access to its mineral riches. M23 fighters made a major advance into the region early last year, seizing Goma and other key cities as they quickly expanded their presence.

While U.S. mediation has helped cool regional tension it has not stopped the escalating fighting on the ground, Kristof Titeca, a professor at the University of Antwerp specialized in governance and conflict in Central Africa, told the AP.

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Mwanamilongo reported from Bonn, Germany.