• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: MONUC delegation to assess Bunia

NAIROBI, 11 March 2003 (IRIN) - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Amos Namanga Ngongi, on Monday dispatched a delegation to assess the situation in Bunia, following violent clashes between the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) and the Union des patriotes congolais (UPC) rebel group, according to the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, MONUC.

The UPC was forced to abandon Bunia on Thursday, following several hours of heavy fighting with the UPDF. The UPC leader, Thomas Lubanga, has vowed to recapture the main city of Ituri Province in northeastern DRC, located about 50 km from the border with Uganda.

The mission will try to secure an agreement for a cessation of hostilities between the UPDF and the UPC and, should conditions permit, identify participants for the preparatory technical committee meeting on the establishment of the Ituri Pacification Commission (IPC).

MONUC noted that the Luanda agreement, signed on 6 September 2002 by Presidents Joseph Kabila of the DRC and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, provided for the creation of the IPC with a view to establishing an administration acceptable to all and invested with the necessary means and power to enable it to assure the population's security in Bunia, thereby enabling a total withdrawal of Ugandan troops from the city.

Meanwhile, local Radio Candip reported on Monday from Bunia that a EU delegation had arrived from the Ugandan capital, Kampala, for talks with MONUC officials and local leaders.

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

The material contained on this Web site comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post any item on this site, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All graphics and Images on this site may not be re-produced without the express permission of the original owner. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003