US dispatches Trump in-law Massad Boulos to DRC as M23 rebels continue offensive

The US State Department has said that businessman Massad Boulos will travel shortly to Africa to address the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC], the latest example of an associate of President Donald Trump taking on a non-traditional diplomatic role.

The State Department said that Boulos would begin a trip on Thursday to the DRC, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda.

Boulos, accompanied by senior US diplomat Corina Sanders, "will meet with heads of state and business leaders to advance efforts for durable peace in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and to promote US private sector investment in the region," a State Department statement said.

Boulos, a Lebanese-born American whose son is married to Trump's daughter Tiffany, was named to a new role of senior advisor for Africa, in addition to his existing role of senior advisor to the president on Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs.

Violence has soared in recent months as Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have taken control of large swathes of the long-turbulent but mineral-rich east of the DRC.

Rwanda denies providing the M23 with military support, but a report by UN experts has said that Kigali maintains around 4,000 troops in the DRC's east to assist the armed group.

Kenya is a traditional US ally in Africa and has worked closely with Washington on issues across the region.

Uganda plays a more complicated role, operating in the eastern DRC in connection with the DRC government but also maintaining close ties with Rwanda.

Uganda's relations have been frostier with the United States in recent years as President Yoweri Museveni, in power for four decades, leads a new crackdown on the opposition.

President Joe Biden's administration had negotiated a tentative deal in DRC that fell apart.

Boulos has experience in Africa, with a New York Times investigation last year finding that he was selling trucks in Nigeria. The newspaper did not find evidence that he was a wealthy businessman, despite boasts to the contrary.

Potential boost to Qatar's efforts

It comes as DRC and M23 rebels plan to hold direct talks on April 9, sources from both camps said on Tuesday, a potential boost to Qatar's efforts to end the Central African country's worst fighting in decades.

The meeting in Doha would be the two sides' first direct negotiations since M23 fighters captured eastern Congo's two largest cities.

One Congolese official said that talks were scheduled for April 9 "unless the other side misbehaves".

A source inside M23 confirmed the date and said it would present Kinshasa with its demands. Both sides have agreed not to publicly discuss the substance of the talks, the sources said.

DRC’s President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame held a surprise meeting in Doha on March 18.

Qatar hosted a second round of talks between the two countries beginning on Friday and met separately with M23 representatives. DRC officials and M23 have not yet met, sources said.

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Source: TRT