DATE=5/17/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N-CONGO (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262490
BYLINE=BRECK ARDERY
DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations today (Wednesday) seemed to
move a step closer toward deployment of so-called
"phase two" of its peacekeeping mission in Congo-
Kinshasa. V-O-A Correspondent Breck Ardery reports
from the United Nations.
TEXT: U-S ambassador Richard Holbrooke told a meeting
of the U-N Security Council that recent problems with
the U-N peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone should
not reflect on Congo.
/// HOLBROOKE ACT ///
Council decisions and actions in the Congo
should not be affected by the dangerous and
terrible events in Sierra Leone. This is
difficult. We recognized during our trip that
the shadow of Sierra Leone was hanging over U-N
peacekeeping not only in Africa but around the
world. But there was no direct effect of the
events in Sierra Leone on the Congo peace
process. Sierra Leone is not a metaphor for
Africa and it is not a metaphor for U-N
peacekeeping.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Holbrooke, who recently led a Security Council
delegation to Congo, said it is important to quickly
get U-N forces to the Congolese city of Kisangani.
Earlier this month fighting involving Rwandan and
Ugandan troops erupted in Kisangani in violation of
the Lusaka cease-fire agreement (last year).
Congo's multi-sided conflict involves the Congolese
government, backed by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe
against rebel groups that are backed by Burundi,
Rwanda, and Uganda.
The Security Council has authorized a 55-hundred
member military observer mission under phase two of
its program for Congo but so far, only the small group
of military liaison officers authorized in phase one
has been deployed.
/// REST OPT ///
Congo's ambassador to the United Nations, Andre
Kapanga, echoed ambassador Holbrooke in saying that
the situation in Sierra Leone should not be confused
with that in Congo. Speaking through an English
translator, Mr. Kapanga said some cease-fire
violations in Congo should not be used as an excuse to
delay deployment of the enlarged U-N mission to his
country.
/// KAPANGA TRANSLATOR ACT ///
Those activities (cease-fire violations) are not
of a scope that will endanger the peace process
initiated in Lusaka. The war in the Democratic
Republic of Congo is a trans-national war
involving primarily states and governments,
which are sensitive to pressure from others
designed to restore peace in the region. This
aspect distinguishes it from the situation in
Sierra Leone.
/// END ACT ///
The decision on when to deploy the stepped up mission
in Congo will be made by U-N Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, who is expected to first require security
assurances from all sides. (Signed)
NEB/UN/BA/LSF/ENE/gm
17-May-2000 15:31 PM EDT (17-May-2000 1931 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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