(Reuters)

The United States is promoting a deal that would require Rwanda to pull troops from eastern Congo before the two sides sign a peace agreement, sources say, a condition that is sure to rankle Kigali, which describes Congo-based armed groups as an existential threat.

President Donald Trump’s administration is holding talks to end fighting in eastern Congo and bring billions of dollars of Western investment to the region, which is rich in minerals including tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium.

Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, told Reuters in May that Washington wanted a peace agreement finalised “within about two months”, an ambitious timeline for resolving a conflict with roots in the Rwandan genocide more than three decades ago.

A draft peace agreement seen by Reuters says a condition for signature is that Rwanda withdraws troops, weapons and equipment from Congo. The authenticity of the document, which is undated, was confirmed by four diplomatic sources, who said it was written by U.S. officials.

The draft goes beyond a declaration of principles that the two countries’ foreign ministers signed at a ceremony in Washington in April with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. That document said the two sides would address any security concerns in a manner that respected each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

LIGHTNING ADVANCE

Rwanda has sent between 7,000 and 12,000 soldiers to eastern Congo to support M23 rebels, analysts and diplomats told Reuters earlier this year, after the rebel group seized the region’s two largest cities in a lightning advance.

Rwanda has long denied providing arms and troops to M23, saying its forces are acting in self-defence against Congo’s army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 genocide that killed around 1 million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis.

Rwanda had not responded to the US-produced draft agreement as of last week, two sources told Reuters. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told Reuters that experts from Congo and Rwanda would meet this week in Washington to discuss the agreement.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A senior official in the office of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi accused Rwanda of “dragging their feet” on the draft and said Rwanda’s withdrawal was necessary for the peace process to move forward.

“We demand the total withdrawal of Rwandan troops as a precondition for signing the agreement, and we will not compromise,” the source said.

QATAR-HOSTED TALKS

The US-produced draft agreement also calls for a “Joint Security Coordination Mechanism” that could include Rwandan and “foreign military observer personnel” to deal with security issues, including the continued presence in Congo of Rwandan Hutu militias.

Analysts say the most commonly cited group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, no longer poses much of a threat to Rwanda, though President Paul Kagame’s government still describes it as a serious threat.

The draft agreement also says Congo would commit to allowing M23 to participate in a national dialogue “on equal footing with other DRC non-state armed groups” – a major concession for Kinshasa, which sees M23 as a terrorist group and Rwandan proxy.

Congo is engaged in separate direct talks with M23 over a possible deal to end the latest cycle of fighting.

The draft agreement says Rwanda “shall take all possible measures to ensure” M23 withdraws from territory it controls, in line with terms agreed in Doha.

A source briefed on that process told Reuters last week that Qatar had presented a draft proposal to both delegations which would consult their leaders before resuming talks.

A rebel official, though, said there had been little progress towards a final deal that would see M23 cede territory.