DATE=10/28/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGO / U-N (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255567
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=ABIDJAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the
deployment of U-N military observers has been delayed
due to differences with the government in Kinshasa.
V-O-A's John Pitman has details from our West Africa
Bureau.
TEXT: News reports from the Congolese capital,
Kinshasa, say the government has given U-N observers
permission to visit rebel-held areas, but not parts of
the country in government hands.
The United Nations has deployed 90 military observers
to the capitals of the countries involved in the
conflict, and some of them are to begin deploying in
the rebel zones this week.
But the observers deployed to Kinshasa have not been
able to leave the city. U-N officials say under the
terms of the Lusaka peace agreement signed by the
government in July, they do not technically need
permission to move around the country. But they add
they have felt constrained by a lack of security
guarantees.
Wednesday, a U-N official in Kinshasa told the French
News Agency that free movement for the observers was,
in his words, indispensable, for the United Nations to
maintain its neutrality.
It remains unclear exactly why the government is
dragging its feet on this issue. But a U-N official
has told the Reuters news agency in Kinshasa that the
delay stems from -- a fundamental misunderstanding on
the government side about the U-N observers' mission.
In the Lusaka accord, the observers are seen as a
forerunner to a larger U-N peacekeeping mission, which
could number up to 20-thousand troops. Under the
terms of the accord, the observers are to conduct what
are called "technical evaluations" of military
positions on both sides. These evaluations include
monitoring the cease-fire, and laying the groundwork
for an eventual disarmament program for the
combatants.
Among the government-held cities the observers want to
visit are Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi in the south;
Mbandaka in the northwest; and the Atlantic port city
of Matadi. (SIGNED)
NEB/JP/GE/RAE
28-Oct-1999 09:53 AM EDT (28-Oct-1999 1353 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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