U-N-CONGO WARNING


DATE=3/22/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N-CONGO WARNING (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-260485
BYLINE=BRECK ARDERY
DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The U-N Security Council is warning that 
increased fighting in Congo-Kinshasa threatens the 
deployment of a 55-hundred member international 
observer force.  Correspondent Breck Ardery reports 
from the United Nations.  
TEXT:  After more than an hour of closed-door 
consultations on Congo, the Security Council issued a 
statement condemning the recent flare-up of fighting, 
especially in the eastern part of the country.  
Despite a cease-fire agreement, signed last year by 
all parties in Congo's multi-sided conflict, the 
fighting has escalated in recent weeks.  The main 
rebel group says the nation is in a state of war and 
rebels are threatening to move toward the capital, 
Kinshasa.
Last month, the Security Council unanimously 
authorized 500 military observers for Congo, backed up 
by five-thousand support troops.  But the deployment 
of that force, known as MONUC, now appears in 
jeopardy.
After reading a formal statement from the Security 
Council, this month's Council President, Anwarul Karim 
Chowdhury of Bangladesh, had a blunt warning for all 
sides in the Congo conflict.
            /// CHOWDHURY ACT ///
      The Council believes that the hostilities 
      seriously affect deployment of MONUC.  This is 
      the message we are sending today - If you want 
      deployment of MONUC, hostilities must stop.
            /// END ACT ///
Mr. Chowdhury's statement was echoed by Fred Eckhard, 
the spokesman for U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
            /// ECKHARD ACT ///
      If it (Congo) is not safe, if hostilities are 
      resuming, we of course know from past experience 
      that it would be no place to send peacekeepers.
            /// END ACT ///
There is a strong consensus among members of the 
Security Council and top U-N officials that deployment 
of U-N forces to Congo would be useless and dangerous 
if all sides in the conflict do not uphold the cease-
fire agreement.
The conflict in Congo pits the government of President 
Laurent Kabila against rebel groups backed by the 
governments of Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda. The 
governments of Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe have been 
actively supporting President Kabila.   (Signed)
NEB/UN/BA/LSF/RAE
22-Mar-2000 14:15 PM EDT (22-Mar-2000 1915 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
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