African leaders in the Great Lakes region have supported the SADC's decision to send soldiers to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, giving Kinshasa a possible backup strategy in its fight with rebel groups.
The heads of state of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), SADC, and the East African Community met in Angola's capital Luanda on Saturday.
During the meeting, they noted that fresh troops under the SADC Standby Force could add to the joint regional action against threats to security and peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Leaders convened in Luanda for the eleventh extraordinary summit on peace and security in the DR Congo, as well as in the Republic of Sudan, and they urged all parties to uphold the ceasefire in an effort to bring about peace.
The African Union champion for peace and reconciliation in Africa, the mediator designated to foster conversation between the DRC and Rwanda on their simmering dispute over claims of rebel assistance, and the President of Angola Joo Lourenco hosted the summit. Lourenco is also the chairman of the ICGLR.
In addition, it was noted in the meeting statement that the "summit welcomed the initiative of the Republic of Angola in deploying a contingent of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) with the aim of providing security to the Cantonment areas of the M23 and supporting the activities of the Ad-hoc Verification Mechanism."
In regards to Sudan, the summit heard a report on the country's condition from the head of the African Union Commission and the president of the Sovereign Council's special envoy, which "condemned the mutiny and resurgence of military conflict," according to the statement from the meeting.
Earlier, during a special SADC conference in Windhoek, Namibia, held last month, the Southern African Development Community announced that it will send soldiers to the DRC to aid in the fight against rebels in the country's east. If it occurs, it will be the second such deployment in the three decades of recurring combat in eastern Congo.
The ICGLR is an intergovernmental organization formed by the African Great Lakes region's countries in 2008 in order to promote political stability amongst them.