UNITED NATIONS, Nov 20: The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday to send some 3,000 additional UN peacekeepers to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help prevent a new war in the country's east.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, known by its French acronym MONUC, is the world's biggest UN peacekeeping operation and will be increased temporarily to just over 20,000 troops and police once the reinforcements are deployed.
Aid organisations have criticised MONUC for allowing a humanitarian disaster to develop in eastern Congo, an area the size of France where a quarter of a million people have fled recent fighting between the Congolese army and Tutsi rebels.
France's UN ambassador, Jean-Maurice Ripert, who led negotiations on the French-drafted resolution, told reporters that it would probably “take some weeks” to get the reinforcements to Congo. UN officials say it may be months.
Ripert also suggested that MONUC needed to be more aggressive in protecting civilians and implementing its mandate.
“The rules of engagement, if they are strong enough, they are not being used strongly enough,” he said.
Congo's UN Ambassador, Atoki Ileka, told reporters that he would have liked more than 3,000 new peacekeepers but welcomed any increase.
He said the boost would only make a difference if countries contributing troops removed restrictions that have been making it difficult for MONUC commanders to move forces into hotspots in North Kivu province.
Some national contingents were reporting directly to their national capitals instead of to MONUC commanders, he said, and those troops “tend to be reluctant to engage” in combat.
“We need to have some more robust rules of engagement of the UN,” he said.
SHAKY CEASE-FIRE: In Congo, Lt-Col Jean-Paul Dietrich, military spokesman for MONUC, welcomed the adoption of the resolution.
“This is excellent news,” he said. “Hopefully this will bring the peace process forward. It is now up to the contributing countries to come up with the troops.”
On the ground, renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda, who demands direct talks on Congo's future with President Joseph Kabila, agreed to move his troops back after meeting with a special UN peace envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Nkunda pledged to respect a shaky cease-fire and take part in UN-backed peace negotiations.Britain's UN Ambassador John Sawers welcomed the increase in MONUC's personnel but said the only way to resolve the conflict in eastern Congo, an area rich in minerals and other natural resources, was by dialogue and a political agreement.
It was not immediately clear which countries would send troops. Neither the United States nor the European Union is expected to contribute soldiers or police but council diplomats said they were likely to provide some of the military hardware MONUC chief Alan Doss has said he urgently needs.
This includes helicopters, transport planes and aerial reconnaissance drones.
Ripert said France, which holds the rotating European Union presidency through the end of the year, was working to persuade other EU members of the need to send European military personnel to eastern Congo as soon as possible to distribute humanitarian aid, working alongside MONUC.
Aid agencies in Congo also welcomed the news. “I think it could make a difference, to help stabilize the situation a little further,” said Jaya Murthy, spokesman for the UN children's agency Unicef. But some Congolese in the east were more cautious.
“When they get more troops, we will see if they can protect Goma, and protect the people,” said Balinda Mutumayi, a resident of the North Kivu provincial capital Goma. “two months is too long, let them come in one week.”—Reuters