DATE=2/15/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGRESS-CONGO PEACEKEEPING (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259194
BYLINE=PAULA WOLFSON
DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The Clinton Administration is trying to
convince Congress to back U-N plans to send 55-hundred
observers and troops to Congo-Kinshasa. V-O-A's Paula
Wolfson reports the proposal is getting a mixed
response on Capitol Hill.
TEXT: America's U-N Ambassador made a personal appeal
to the House Subcommittee on Africa.
Richard Holbrooke spoke in dramatic terms about the
violence and instability that plagues the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
///Holbrooke act///
Congo is a contagion of crises. If the conflict
there is allowed to fester efforts to resolve
conflicts and bring stability throughout the
region --- in Angola, Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan and
Burundi --- will be even more difficult.
///end act///
In January, Mr. Holbrooke made African issues the
focus of his one-month stint as head of the U-N
Security Council. He included high-level meetings
centering on the Democratic Republic of Congo
(Kinshasa). Parties to the conflict attended,
including Congo's President Laurent Kabila.
Mr. Holbrooke said those meetings convinced him it is
time to move ahead with plans for the deployment of
500 ceasefire observers and five-thousand support
troops.
///second Holbrooke act///
The peace process in Congo is moving forward,
although slowly. Fighting that was once wide-
scale has been contained to a relatively smaller
number of areas. The international community is
now poised for greater action.
///end act///
But there were concerns raised in the hearing room by
lawmakers wary of another U-N peacekeeping venture.
Georgia Democrat Cynthia McKinney pointed to a flawed
record in Somalia and the Balkans.
///McKinney act///
Could you tell me what safeguards you will make
sure get in place so the Congo becomes a place
of opportunity for the U-N to redeem itself,
rather than just another opportunity for yet
another apology?
///end act///
Ambassador Holbrooke said there have been failures and
successes. But he said the mission in Congo
(Kinshasa) is being carefully planned, and nothing
will happen until the combatants lay down their arms.
Nebraska Republican Doug Bereuter (Bee'-writer)
accepted his assurances.
////Bereuter act///
Beyond the importance of it, and the legitimacy
of taking this initiative I think it also will
enhance the American credibility at the United
Nations and make it more likely some of the
reforms we have been pushing for, in fact, are a
reality.
///end act///
Next week, Congressman Bereuter will attend a meeting
in Canada with NATO and European Union officials.
Ambassador Holbrooke asked him to relay a message -
that no resources will be diverted from the Balkans to
pay for peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic of
Congo. (Signed)
NEB/PT
15-Feb-2000 17:40 PM EDT (15-Feb-2000 2240 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
