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Security Council members welcome signals from DR of Congo on UN deployment
30 August -- Members of the Security Council today welcomed statements by the Kinshasa Government that it will facilitate the deployment of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

At the same time, Council members "expressed the need to clarify statements by officials of the Government of the DRC that the Government is suspending the implementation of the Lusaka ceasefire agreement," the Council President, Ambassador Agam Hasmy of Malaysia, told reporters following a closed-door meeting. He said Council members "looked forward to continued consultations, including with all Lusaka signatories, on the need to implement the Lusaka agreement."

He also noted that the forthcoming Millennium Summit of the General Assembly, expected to draw over 150 heads of State and Government to the UN next week, should be used by regional leaders to advance the DRC peace process.

Expressing concern about the country's precarious humanitarian situation, Council members called on the conflicting parties to ensure unhindered access of humanitarian personnel to the affected people, Ambassador Hasmy said.

The Council was briefed this morning by the Secretary-General's Special Envoy to the DRC, former Nigerian leader General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who just returned from the region.

Speaking to reporters following the briefing, the Envoy said DRC President Laurent Kabila had agreed to the deployment of the UN Mission to Mbandaka, Kananga and Kisangani. However, President Kabila had rejected the deployment of South African specialized troops, which could delay the Mission's overall deployment, General Abubakar said. The units, used for such logistical tasks as cargo handling, airspace and fuel management, movement control, air crash rescue and firefighting, are considered essential to any mission's deployment.

The Lusaka Agreement, concluded in July 1999, provides for a cessation of hostilities among all belligerent parties in the DRC and also sets out the structure of a Joint Military Commission to ensure the Agreement's implementation. The Security Council formally established the UN Mission last November, authorizing the deployment of 5,537 personnel, including 500 military observers. To date, however, only 264 military observers have been deployed.