AFRICA/CONGO - “EUROPEAN PEACE KEEPING FORCE IS WELCOME IN CONGO, BUT PERHAPS THE INTERVENTION COULD HAVE COME EARLIER”

Kinshasa (Fides Service) – “The decision to send a European peacekeeping force to Ituri is a positive fact but we cannot overlook another fact that the international community did nothing two months ago when the civilian population was massacred”. Bishop Faustin Ngabu of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, voices cautious optimism to Fides Service with regard to the European Union’s decision to send a peacekeeping force to Ituri, the eastern region of Congo disrupted by months of fierce fighting between different Congolese factions.
In Brussels on June 4 the European Union agreed to send a mission of 1,400 men to Ituri where in the past few months at least 1,000 people have been killed, local sources tell Fides Service. The EU Mission, under the auspices of the United Nations, will be led by France which is sending between 700 to 900 troops with fighter and cargo aircraft. Contributions will be made by other countries, including the United Kingdom, Holland, Germany and Belgium; Italy will send a communications mission.
Bishop Ngabu says “the fact that the mission is multi-national, rather than only French troops as proposed first of all is certainly positive. An all French mission would have given the idea that under the pretext of separating the parties in conflict, Paris was backing its own interests which have nothing to do with peace in Congo. Now let’s hope Europe is able to understand the complexity of the country and can play a positive role to restore peace”. LM (Fides Service 5/6/2003 EM lines 24 Words: 273)