Trump hosts the leaders of Congo and Rwanda to sign a key deal for peace in eastern Congo

WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. President Donald Trump will host the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda on Thursday for a deal-signing aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Congo and opening access to the region’s critical minerals for the U.S. government and American companies.

The moment provides Trump – who has repeatedly and with a measure of exaggeration boasted of brokering peace in some of the world’s most entrenched conflicts – another chance to tout himself as a dealmaker extraordinaire on the global stage and make the case that he’s deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize. The U.S. leader hasn’t been shy about his desire to receive the honor.

Trump is welcoming Presidents Felix Tshisekedi of Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda, as well as several officials from other African nations traveling to Washington to witness the signing, in the same week he contemptuously derided the war-torn country of Somalia and said he did he did not want immigrants from the East African nation in the U.S.

Lauded by the White House as a “historic” agreement brokered by Trump, the pact between Tshisekedi and Kagame follows monthslong peace efforts by the U.S. and partners, including the African Union and Qatar, and finalizes an earlier deal signed in June.

But the Trump-brokered peace is precarious.

The Central African nation of Congo has been battered by decadeslong fighting with more than 100 armed groups, the most potent being the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The conflict escalated this year, with M23 seizing the region’s main cities of Goma and Bukavu in an unprecedented advance, worsening a humanitarian crisis that was already one of the world’s largest, with millions of people displaced.

Fighting, meanwhile, continued this week in the conflict-battered region with pockets of clashes reported between the rebels and Congolese soldiers, together with their allied forces. Trump, a Republican, has often said that his mediation has ended the conflict, which some people in Congo say isn’t true.

Analysts say Thursday’s deal also isn’t expected to quickly result in peace. A separate peace deal has been signed between Congo and the M23.

“We are still at war,” said Amani Chibalonza Edith, a 32-year-old resident of Goma, eastern Congo’s key city seized by rebels early this year. “There can be no peace as long as the front lines remain active.”

Thursday’s pact will also build on a Regional Economic Integration Framework that officials have said will define the terms of economic partnerships involving the three countries.

The region, rich in critical minerals, is of interest to Trump as Washington looks for ways to circumvent China to acquire rare earths, essential to manufacturing fighter jets, cell phones and more. China accounts for nearly 70% of the world’s rare earth mining and controls roughly 90% of global rare earths processing.

Trump hosted the leaders on Thursday morning for one-on-one meetings at the White House as well as a three-way conversation. The three will later sign the pact at an event at the the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, which the State Department announced on Wednesday has been rebranded “the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.”

Later Thursday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will also host an event that will bring together American business leaders and the Congolese and Rwandan delegations to discuss potential investment opportunities in critical minerals, energy and tourism, according to Yolande Makolo, a senior adviser to Kagame.

In eastern Congo, meanwhile, residents reported pockets of clashes and rebel advances in various localities. Both the M23 and Congolese forces have often accused each other of violating the terms of the ceasefire agreed earlier this year. Fighting has also continued in the central plateaus across South Kivu province.

The hardship in the aftermath of the conflict has also worsened following U.S. funding cuts that were crucial for aid support in the conflict.

In rebel-held Goma, which was a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts before this year’s escalation of fighting, the international airport is closed. Government services such as bank operations have yet to resume and residents have reported a surge in crimes and in the prices of goods.

“We are waiting to see what will happen because so far, both sides continue to clash and attack each other,” said Moise Bauma, a 27-year-old student in rebel-held Bukavu city.

Both Congo and Rwanda, meanwhile, have touted American involvement as a key step towards peace in the region.

“We need that attention from the administration to continue to get to where we need to get to,” Makolo said. “We are under no illusion that this is going to be easy. This is not the end but it’s a good step.”

The conflict can be traced to the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, where Hutu militias killed between 500,000 and 1 million ethnic Tutsi, as well as moderate Hutus and Twa, Indigenous people. When Tutsi-led forces fought back, nearly 2 million Hutus crossed into Congo, fearing reprisals.

Rwandan authorities have accused the Hutus who fled of participating in the genocide and alleged that elements of the Congolese army protected them. They have argued that the militias formed by a small fraction of the Hutus are a threat to Rwanda’s Tutsi population.

Congo’s government has said there can’t be permanent peace if Rwanda doesn’t withdraw its support troops and other support for the M23 in the region. Rwanda, on the other hand, has conditioned a permanent ceasefire on Congo dissolving a local militia that it said is made up of the Hutus and is fighting with the Congolese military.

U.N. experts have said that between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan government forces are deployed in eastern Congo, operating alongside the M23. Rwanda denies such support, but says any action taken in the conflict is to protect its territory.

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Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria, and Madhani from Washington. Justin Kabumba contributed to this report from Goma, Congo.