African blocs expand mediation team for Congo conflict

FILE PHOTO: Members of the M23 rebel group stand guard as people attend a rally addressed by Corneille Nangaa, Congolese rebel leader and coordinator of the AFC-M23 movement, in Bukavu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo February 27, 2025. REUTERS/File Photo

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The political blocs of Southern and Eastern Africa have expanded the mediation team for negotiating an end to the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel offensive in eastern Congo, at a heads of state meeting on Monday that Rwanda described as fruitful.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve eastern Congo's biggest conflict in decades appeared to have stalled last week when the M23 failed to attend peace talks with the Congolese government in Angola, and later captured the strategic town of Walikale.