While Qatar grapples daily with the challenge of mediating between Israel and Hamas, the emirate is now also tackling an equally complex conflict that has been going on for 30 years in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). On March 18, to everyone's surprise, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani organized a meeting in Doha between two key figures in the crisis: Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame, who is the main supporter of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels. The M23 rebels have, since January, conquered vast territories in eastern DRC, including Goma and Bukavu, the respective capitals of North Kivu and South Kivu.

The diplomatic coup was made possible by the Qatari sovereign's people skills. His strong ties with Paul Kagame are reflected in Qatar Airways' investments in Rwanda's national airline and in a new airport being constructed east of Kigali, and in the request made by Félix Tshisekedi, who has been seeking his mediation since the end of 2022.

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