Trump, leaders of Rwanda and DR Congo sign peace deal despite new violence

(Patria) - US President Donald Trump and the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a peace agreement on Thursday, even as new violence cast doubt on the agreement to end one of Africa's longest-running wars.

Trump said the United States was also signing mineral deals with the two countries as he hosted Paul Kagame, Rwanda's long-serving president, and Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi in Washington.

"I think it's going to be a great miracle," Trump said after the signing ceremony held at a peace institute his administration had just renamed after him.

Referring to the two leaders, he added: "They've spent a lot of time killing each other, and now they're going to spend a lot of time hugging and holding hands and taking advantage of the United States economically, as every other country does."

But both African leaders struck a more cautious tone as fighting raged in eastern DR Congo where the M23 rebel group, which the United Nations says is backed by Rwanda, has gained ground in recent weeks against Kinshasa's forces.

"There will be ups and downs on the road ahead, there is no doubt about that," said Kagame, whose allies have gained a decisive advantage on the ground against his country's turbulent neighbor.

Tshisekedi of DR Congo called it "the beginning of a new path, a demanding path".

"A lot of money"

Trump boasted that the conflict in eastern DR Congo, where hundreds of thousands have died over decades, was among eight wars he had ended since returning to office in January.

The US president made no secret of his desire to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Trump said the deal would pave the way for the United States to gain access to critical minerals in both countries. Violence-wracked eastern DR Congo in particular has reserves of many key ingredients in modern technologies such as electric cars.

It is the latest in a series of deals in which the Republican billionaire has negotiated a stake for US firms in the extraction of rare earth minerals, including in Ukraine.

"We're going to get some of the rare earth minerals," Trump said. "And everybody's going to make a lot of money."

The signing comes more than five months after the countries' foreign ministers also met with Trump and announced another deal to end the conflict.

The long-simmering conflict exploded in late January when M23 seized the major towns of Goma and Bukavu.

Following the June agreement, M23, which denies links to Rwanda, and the Kinshasa government pledged a ceasefire after mediation by US partner Qatar, but both sides have since accused the other of violations.

"Many dead"

Violence continued on the ground even on the day of the signing.

An AFP reporter on the scene heard gunfire on the outskirts of Kamanyola, a town under M23 control in South Kivu province near the borders with Rwanda and Burundi.

"Many houses have been bombed and there are many dead," said Rene Chubaka Kalembire, an administrative official in Kaziba, a town also under M23 control, ahead of the signing.

After days of fighting around Kaziba, warplanes bombed the town again on Thursday morning, a local civil society representative who wished to remain anonymous told AFP.

Explosions could also be heard from the Bugarama border crossing in Rwanda, across the border in neighboring Burundi, and Rwandan police temporarily closed the border crossing on Thursday.

Local sources reported a massive buildup of M23 reinforcements, accompanied by armored vehicles, on the South Kivu highlands.

Passage through the mountainous region would allow their troops to encircle Uvira, the last major town in South Kivu to have escaped capture by M23.

The agreement, brokered by Trump, comes as both countries negotiate with his administration for priority admission of migrants amid the president's sweeping deportation campaign.