LEADERS from eastern and southern Africa on Saturday called for an immediate ceasefire in eastern Congo, where Rwandan-backed militias are threatening to overthrow the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).

The African leaders also urged DR Congo’s president to directly negotiate with the M23 militia — named for the March 23 2009 peace agreement signed by its predecessor, the National Congress for the Defence of the People, and the DR Congo.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, who attended the summit in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam by video conference, has previously said he would never talk to the M23 militia he sees as bent on exploiting his country’s vast mineral wealth.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame also attended the summit.

A communique at the end of talks urged the resumption of “direct negotiations and dialogue with all state and non-state parties,” including the M23. 

The rebels seized Goma, the biggest city in eastern Congo, following fighting that left nearly 3,000 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced, according to the United Nations.

The unprecedented joint summit included leaders from the East African Community bloc, of which both Rwanda and Congo are members, and those from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which includes countries ranging from Congo to South Africa.

The M23 militia are backed by about 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to UN experts, while DRC forces are backed by regional peacekeepers, UN forces, allied militias and troops from neighbouring Burundi. 

Kenyan President William Ruto, the current chair of the East African Community, told the summit that dialogue “is not a sign of weakness.

“It is in this spirit that we must encourage all parties to put aside their differences and mobilise for engagements in constructive dialogue.”

The Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups including M23, said in an open letter to the summit that they are fighting a DRC regime that “flouted republican norms and is becoming an appalling danger for the Congolese people.”

The letter, signed by Corneille Nangaa, a leader of the rebel alliance, said the group was “open for a direct dialogue” with the DRC government.

The summit called for the immediate reopening of the airport in Goma and arrangements for the “withdrawal of uninvited foreign armed groups” from Congolese territory.

A meeting in Equatorial Guinea on Friday of another regional bloc, the Economic Community of Central African States, also called for the immediate withdrawal of Rwandan troops from Congo as well as the reopening of the airport to facilitate access to humanitarian aid.