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DATE=4/14/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=HOLBROOKE TO CONGO (L ONLY) NUMBER=2-261332 BYLINE=BRECK ARDERY DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: The American Ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, will lead a U-N Security Council mission to Congo-Kinshasa early next month. The announcement came today (Friday) as the Council reviewed a report on the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. VOA Correspondent Breck Ardery reports from the United Nations. TEXT: Many Council members said that the report, which was issued in December, is still relevant because it provides cautionary lessons for current and future U-N peacekeeping missions. The report says that a lack of resources, and a lack of political will were the main reasons that the United Nations was unable to prevent or stop the 1994 mass murder of Tutsis and some moderate Hutus in Rwanda. Mr. Holbrooke, who has devoted much of his time to the problems of Africa, will be leading the Security Council fact-finding mission to Congo - the D-R-C - on May second. He says that groups responsible for the genocide in Rwanda are still a threat in Congo - the D-R-C. ///Holbrooke act/// It is undeniable that many of the Rwandan murderers remain at large within the territory of Congo. Many of them wish to renew the genocide. The government of the D-R-C is unable to prevent the use of its territory by these armed groups. It is simply outside its (Congo's) physical, logistical and political capability. ///end act/// Mr. Holbrooke has frequently said that the future of the United Nations may well depend on "getting it right" in Congo. The Security Council has already approved a 55-hundred member military observer mission for Congo but its deployment could be several months away. ///Rest opt/// The report on the Rwanda genocide was prepared by a special commission chaired by Ingvar Carlsson, the former Prime Minister of Sweden. He says the central lesson of Rwanda is that there was a clear lack of political will by the international community to provide the resources that were needed in Rwanda. ///Carlsson act/// The United Nations is the only organization which can bring global legitimacy to peacekeeping. The reverse side of that coin (the opposite of that) is that failed peacekeeping efforts cause devastating damage to the credibility of this organization. To the members of the Security Council I say, give peacekeeping operations the mandates they need, see to it that the resources provided fit the mandates and mobilize the political will to provide the troops that the United Nations needs at short notice. ///end act/// Mr. Carlsson says the Security Council should have been better informed of the developments leading up to the Rwanda genocide. Diplomats say an indication the Council has learned that lesson is suggested by the planned Council missions to Congo next month and Kosovo later this month.(Signed NEB/UN/BA/LSF/PT 14-Apr-2000 16:20 PM EDT (14-Apr-2000 2020 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .





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