The UN Security Council voted unanimously 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 organizations have criticized 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."
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