AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - 10 million dollar programme to disarm rebels fails, only 32 men hand weapons to UN troops. UN mission in eastern Congo expires today. Towards an agreement to extend its mandate and boost its numbers

Friday, 1 October 2004

Kinshasa (Fides Service) - A French proposal to send another 5,900 UN peacekeepers to Congo and extend its mandate has met with approval. The UN mission in Congo MONUC, consisting of 10,500 men deployed in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, expires today 1 October. France has asked the UN Security Council to extend the mission another six months and to bring the number of troops up to 16.400 sending another 3,550 soldiers, equal to four contingents, plus 341 civil policemen.
According to France Press, Paris also asked for MONUC powers to be extended “to deploy and maintain a presence in the principle areas threatened by instability to counter violence and to assure that recourse to force does not undermine the political process”. France also suggests that MONUC should protect civilians and UN installations and establish relations with the UN mission in Burundi and the governments of Congo and Burundi to coordinate efforts to stop guerrilla movements operating along the border between these countries.
Great Britain and the United States are backing France’s proposal to extend the mission of MONUC which should be voted today. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had called for a MONUC force of 23.900 but his proposal failed to find with consensus in the Security Council.
Democratic Congo was devastated by a civil war from 1998 to 2003, involving troops from Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia (and for a time also Chad and Sudan) fighting alongside Kinshasa’s troops to repress a series of guerrilla movements in eastern Congo in turn supported by Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Between 2.5 and 3 million people were killed and several million were displaced. Despite the signing of an agreement which brought the rebels to take part in government, several regions in the east are still in unstable. Particularly in north and south Kivu, where a 10 million dollar programme to disarm the groups of rebels has been declared a failure. In effect only 32 men handed weapons to the UN troops. This is why the international community thinks it is essential for the MONUC mandate to be extended. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 1/10/2004 righe 46 parole 483)


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