The African Union has backed East African Community leaders’ decision to send a regional force to eastern DR Congo to restore peace and security.
AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat praised the leaders for “their united efforts in finding a durable solution to the crisis in eastern DRC and the Great Lakes region as a whole” in a statement released on Tuesday.
At a summit last week in Nairobi, EAC officials encouraged DRC rebel groups to lay down their guns and invited them to Kenya for discussions.
The leaders decided to send a regional force to ensure peace and security in eastern DRC if the armed groups do not respond to the call for discussion.
According to sources, the meeting between the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the armed groups was first canceled owing to “logistical issues.”
Later in the week, on Friday and Saturday, a couple of the armed factions convened for discussions.
