Angola hosts DRC, M23 peace parley as SADC meets

Leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will meet virtually Thursday to discuss the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This will be the third summit on the DRC conflict in three months. Meanwhile, Angola announced Wednesday that it will host peace talks between the DRC and M23 rebels. Reuters reports that the talks will take place on March 18 in the Angolan capital, Luanda. It would be the first direct meeting between the DRC government and the M23. The DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels, but Kigali denies the allegations. Tendai Ruben Mbofana, a Zimbabwe political analyst, tells VOA’s James Butty, any resolution of the DRC conflict will have to include not just DRC and M23, but their backers as well.