Qatar's Emir visits Rwanda and DR Congo after peace roadmap signed in Doha

Gulf state has shuttled between the two sides for months, hoping to end decades-long conflict

Sheikh Tamim, Emir of Qatar, arrives in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, where he was greeted by President Paul Kagame. Photo: Amiri Diwan of Qatar

The Emir of Qatar arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday for a state visit, just days after the DRC and the Rwanda-backed M23 militia signed a peace plan in Doha.

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi welcomed Sheikh Tamim upon arrival, along with Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner.

The leaders had “in-depth discussions on the progress of the peace process”, the DRC Foreign Ministry said on X.

Sheikh Tamim flew to DRC from Rwanda, where he had talks with President Paul Kagame on Thursday.

Mr Kagame greeted the Qatari Emir at the airport before they travelled to the president's private farm for talks.

Sheikh Tamim was presented with Inyambo cows, “a symbolic gesture rooted in Rwandan tradition, signifying friendship, mutual respect, and the strong bond between the two leaders and their nations”, said the Rwandan Presidency.

Sheikh Tamim said “Qatar and Rwanda are united by strong and growing relations” and are moving towards a “promising horizon” of shared partnerships and mutual benefits. He also praised President Kagame's “efforts in supporting peace initiatives in the regional surroundings of his country”.

The peace framework signed by the DRC and M23 last week aims to end fighting that has devastated the eastern part of the country.

Qatar, along with the US and the African Union, has shuttled between the two sides for months, hoping to end the conflict in the mineral-rich east, where the M23 has captured key cities.

The DRC and the M23 signed a ceasefire deal and an earlier framework in Doha in July, after three months of talks in the Qatari capital. This followed a separate DRC-Rwanda peace deal signed in Washington in June.

Both sides have since accused each other of breaking the truce. Millions of people have died in various conflicts in eastern DRC since the mid-1990s.

The signing of the Doha Framework for a Comprehensive Peace Agreement on November 15 was completed at a ceremony attended by officials from the warring parties, as well as the US and Qatar.

Qatar's chief negotiator, Mohammed Al Khulaifi, called the deal “historic”, adding that mediators would continue efforts to achieve peace on the ground.

The DRC government said in a statement that the framework “aims to create, in the shortest time possible, the conditions for a real and measurable change for the people”.

It said the agreement's eight chapters included the freeing of prisoners by both sides, humanitarian aid for the devastated east and an agreement on monitoring the ceasefire.