What next for DR Congo's troubled peace talks?

- Who's involved? -

Born in 2012 out of a mutiny against the Congolese army by former rebel fighters, the M23 armed group has once again taken up arms against the DRC after years of inactivity.

Though the M23 claims to defend ethnic Tutsis in the eastern DRC, its fighters are de facto under the Rwandan army's command, according to a UN experts' report.

The DRC accuses Rwanda of using the M23 as a tool to pillage the Congolese east's fertile farmland and rich mineral wealth.

Though Rwanda has never explicitly admitted to maintaining a presence on Congolese soil and denies offering the M23 military support, it argues that it faces a persistent security threat along its border with the DRC.

In particular, Rwanda has demanded the eradication of the FDLR, an armed group founded by Hutu leaders who took part in the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda, in the DRC's east.

Since its 2021 resurgence, the M23 has seized swathes of territory in North and South Kivu provinces bordering Rwanda.

Following a lightning M23 offensive in recent months, the armed group has captured both region's capitals, Goma and Bukavu, and is setting up to govern for the long term.

- Where are peace talks at now? -

Since the end of 2021, a half-dozen ceasefires and truces have been brokered before being broken in short order.

To date, every diplomatic push hoping to put an end to the fighting has foundered.

In early February, leaders from the east and southern African blocs called for a ceasefire and urged for the merger of the two separate peace processes, one initiated by Angola and the other by Kenya.

On Monday, a ministerial meeting of the Southern African Development Community and the East African Community adopted a roadmap for direct talks between the belligerents within 30 days, calling for all sides to halt any advances on the ground.

On Tuesday, the first direct negotiations between the M23 and the Congolese authorities since 2021 collapsed at the last minute, as the armed group said it would not travel to Angola for the talks.

But on the same day, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame met for talks in Qatar under a veil of secrecy, despite their well-documented personal dislike for each other.

- Why Doha? -

The Gulf state has no mandate to mediate in the conflict, but it has in recent years signed several economic agreements with both Rwanda and the DRC.

It has invested more than a billion dollars in a future airport hub near the Rwandan capital, Kigali, and has pledged to modernise port and airport facilities in the DRC.

Those interests come on top of Qatar's growing diplomatic efforts in other world conflicts, notably in Sudan, Afghanistan and the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

"Doha was a more neutral ground than Angola or other African countries," Thierry Vircoulon, associate researcher at the Sub-Saharan Africa Centre of the French Institute for International Relations, told AFP.

- What changed in Doha? -

Next to no information has leaked out on what exactly Tshisekedi and Kagame talked about in the Qatari capital.

According to a joint statement published by the Qatari foreign ministry, both Rwanda and the DRC "reaffirmed the commitment of all parties to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire".

The DRC presidency said in its statement that the "details of implementation (of the truce) will be specified" shortly.

But Rwanda did not mention the term ceasefire, merely thanking Qatari leader Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani for "his support towards constructive dialogue".

In a presidency statement, Rwanda also said that Kagame had raised "the need to address the issue of FDLR genocidal forces" with Tshisekedi.

By coming to the table in Doha "Kagame is implicitly recognising his role in the rebellion in the east," said Vircoulon.

Yet, the M23, which the day after the talks took the key town of Walikale close to rich veins of gold and tin, "has no negotiating agenda", he said.

"They have no demands. Their goal is to oust Tshisekedi from power."