The announcement was made by the movement's spokesperson, Lawrence Kanyuka, through the social network X, where he attributes responsibility to "international institutions" for making the talks that were going to take place in Luanda impossible.
The European Union (EU) on Monday adopted sanctions against a Kigali-based refinery and nine people linked to the recent offensives by the M23 rebel group in eastern DR Congo.
The March 23 Movement (M23) had previously announced that it would send five delegates to Luanda to participate in dialogue with the Government of the DR Congo, responding to the request of the Angolan authorities.
"The Congo River Alliance (AFC/M23) deeply regrets to note that certain international institutions are deliberately committed to sabotaging peace efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and making long-awaited talks impossible," wrote Lawrence Kanyuka in X.
The movement's communications manager stressed, in an implicit reference to the European Union, that the successive sanctions imposed on M23 members, including those adopted on the eve of the talks in Luanda, "seriously compromise direct dialogue and hinder any progress."
In the statement, the AFC/M23 criticizes "this incomprehensible, equivocal and ambiguous attitude that does nothing more than reinforce Félix Tshisekedi (President of the DR Congo) in his warmongering policy."
The AFC/M23 also draws public attention to the fact that the forces allied with the Kinshasa regime "continue the warmongering campaign through multiple ground attacks and indiscriminate bombing in densely populated areas", in addition to rebel positions, using fighter jets and CH-4 combat drones.
"Under these conditions, participation in the negotiations has become impossible. As a result, our organization cannot maintain its participation in the discussions," the statement signed by Lawrence Kanyuka concludes.
This would be the first opportunity for direct negotiations between the M23 and the Congolese government, which Kinshasa has so far refused.
The Government of the DR Congo had also confirmed its participation in the peace negotiations.
"We have received the invitation from the mediator [President João Lourenço] and we will listen to him. A Congolese delegation will travel to Luanda on Tuesday, at the initiative of the mediators," said Tina Salama, spokesperson for the President of the DR Congo, Félix Tshisekedi.
Salama confirmed his country's participation after João Lourenço called for a ceasefire between the parties starting Sunday to facilitate negotiations.
The M23 – which, according to the DR Congo and countries such as the US, Germany and France, is supported by Rwanda – controls the capitals of the provinces of North and South Kivu, which border Rwanda and are rich in minerals essential for the technology industry and the manufacture of cell phones.
The death toll from the conflict in and around North Kivu's capital Goma has surpassed 8500 since January, according to information provided by Congolese Public Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba in late February.
In that province, the armed activity of the M23 – a group made up mainly of Tutsis, which suffered the Rwandan genocide in 1994 – resumed in November 2021 with lightning attacks against the Congolese army.
Since 1998, eastern DR Congo has been mired in conflict fueled by rebel militias and the army, despite the presence of the UN peacekeeping mission (Monusco).
