DATE=11/11/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGO / U-N (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256047
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=ABIDJAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Congo-Kinshasa, a team of experts from the
United Nations has begun a fact-finding tour of the
country to prepare for the eventual deployment of a U-
N peacekeeping force. The U-N tour began Thursday,
with a visit to the city of Gbadolite, in the
northwestern part of the country. Correspondent John
Pitman reports from our West Africa Bureau.
TEXT: According to Major David Hannah, a spokesman
for the U-N observer mission in Congo, the technical
survey team will visit five cities in all, four in
rebel areas and one under government control.
/// OPT /// After Gbadolite, the team will fly east
to Goma -- the headquarters of the main rebel faction
-- then to Kisangani, home to rebel splinter group,
and on to Bukavu on the border with Burundi. The team
will end its trip with a visit to the government-held
city of Kananga, in the south. /// OPT ///
The team is made up of 10 civilian experts and four U-
N military observers.
Major Hannah says the civilian experts will look at
physical conditions in the places they visit to
determine the logistical, medical, and humanitarian
challenges an eventual U-N peacekeeping mission could
face.
/// OPT // HANNAH ACT ONE ///
Their findings will form an essential foundation
which will allow the planning of the second
phase of the mission, and will be
fundamental to a full and comprehensive
appreciation of the situation that exists in the
D-R-C (Democratic Republic of Congo) today.
/// END ACT // END OPT ///
Major Hannah says military observers on the team will
talk to their counterparts in the various rebel
factions and in the government to lay the groundwork
for the deployment of U-N military liaison officers.
Despite a series of alleged ceasefire breaches in
recent weeks, Major Hannah says this initial
inspection team will not investigate any of those
charges because the infrastructure to support the
investigators is not yet in place.
/// HANNAH ACT TWO ///
Before we get to the stage of being able to have
people in a position to investigate cease-fire
violations, etc., we need to be in a position to
support any positioning of observers or liaison
officers we might want to send out.
/// END ACT ///
The United Nations is working on a plan to send up to
15-thousand peacekeepers to Congo. A date has not
been set for their deployment, but Major Hannah says
it will happen "in due course" as the technical
experts collect more information.
/// REST OPT ///
Thursday's launch of the U-N's inspection mission came
after a tense period of negotiations with the Kinshasa
government, which had objected to the experts visiting
government-held areas outside of Kinshasa.
This week, U-N Secretary-General Koffi Annan sent
special representative Mustapha Niasse to Kinshasa to
iron out the differences.
Major David Hannah says Mr. Niasse met with President
Laurent Kabila to "clarify" the exact nature of the
fact-finding mission.
/// HANNAH ACT THREE ///
There was concern from the D-R-C authorities as
to why the U-N should be interested in going to
areas that - to use their words - are "far away
from front lines." And the special envoy has
managed to explain clearly that the technical
survey team's work is a study into what is
possible in logistical terms, with a view to
supporting a fuller U-N mission in due course.
/// END ACT ///
Under terms of the Lusaka peace agreement, the U-N
peacekeepers would act as a buffer between the warring
sides and would help supervise the disarmament of
fighters, as well as the withdrawal of foreign troops.
Since Congo's civil war broke out in August of 1998,
at least five foreign countries have sent soldiers and
arms to back either president Kabila or one of the
rebel factions. (Signed)
NEB/JP/JWH/KL
11-Nov-1999 13:06 PM EDT (11-Nov-1999 1806 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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