13 May 2003
U.S. Concerned Over Fighting in Bunia, DRC
(Ambassador Williamson: ethnic rivalry adds to problem) (930)
By Judy Aita
Washington File UN Correspondent
United Nations -- Greatly concerned about the fighting in northeastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United States has given
additional resources to peacekeeping efforts there and is working in
the Security Council to see how the U.N. peacekeeping mission might
get better control of the situation.
U.S. Ambassador Richard Williamson said after a private council
meeting that the U.S. has given an additional $250,000 to the Ituri
pacification process and "there is great concern because of the ethnic
component."
"We are open to trying to make sure that (efforts) are effective in
advancing the political peace process there because until that happens
we don't think the violence will end," Williamson told journalists
outside the council's chambers.
"The UPC (Union des Patriotes Congalais) has gone back in and regained
control of Bunia and the message is they must behave better than they
did prior to their March 6 departure when there was very unfortunate
violence," the ambassador said.
The U.N. undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations,
Jean-Marie Guehenno, briefed the council on the latest developments.
The deputy commander of the U.N. Mission in the DRC (MONUC) negotiated
the withdrawal of the two main rival forces. Nearly 700 U.N.
peacekeepers have been sent to Bunia but Guehenno said that without
decisive action, the situation might spin out of control, leading
possibly to the massive killing of civilians.
Secretary General Kofi Annan called on Uganda to use its influence
with the militias to maintain calm. Between 8,000 and 10,000 persons
are internally displaced in the province and the U.N. is struggling to
provide food, water and medicine.
The U.N. considered the situation explosive, said U.N. spokesman Fred
Eckhard. The U.N. sees similarities in this situation between the Hema
and Lendu ethnic groups and the situation in Rwanda between the Hutu
and Tutsi that led to genocide in that country a few years ago.
U.N. officials said that the council had to consider more effective
measures because MONUC was neither trained nor equipped to deal with
the kind of violence that has erupted in Bunia. Peacekeepers are in
the DRC to monitor the implementation of a peace agreement, not to
deal with factions at war.
Williamson, U.S. representative to the U.N. for special political
affairs, said that he expects the council to act quickly, first with a
presidential statement from the council. "We can't afford to sit on
our hands at this time," he said.
The United States thinks that a realignment of the number of
peacekeepers in the DRC could be appropriate. That can be accomplished
"well within the current ceiling" of the 4,300 troops mandated for
MONUC, the ambassador said. But the U.S. "is willing to look at a
variety of options."
"We think that (realignment of peacekeepers) can be helpful but that
can only be supportive," Williamson said. "It can't change the dynamic
by itself. That's why we need to have a peace process going forward."
"We think the first thing is to segregate the troubles in Ituri
Province from other parts of the Congo. There are unique aspects both
with respect to the type of resource exploitation that occurred there
-- and therefore people with vested interest do not want to have a
resolution and, second, the fact that some of the militias in Ituri
are not participants in the inter-Congolese dialogue," he continued.
"Those two elements plus ethnic divisions make Ituri much different
than the rest of the Congo," Williamson said. "So while there is
tremendous progress being made on the peace process for the vast
majority of the Congo region there are serious concerns about this
area and its been inflamed by the violence."
The United States will also be supporting a resolution in the Security
Council May 16 that will establish a 75-member U.N. Mission in Cote
d'Ivoire (MINUCI) to work with the French and ECOWAS forces on the
peace process, the ambassador also said.
Williamson will be part of a special Security Council mission to West
Africa May 15 to 23.
The 14-nation mission will begin in Abuja, Nigeria with a meeting with
the president and, over the following days, visit Ghana, Cote
d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, and Sierra Leone meeting
with heads of state and major political leaders in each country. U.K.
Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock is heading the mission.
The mission will look into the humanitarian and human rights
situations as well as review the status of agreements for restoring
peace, stability and normality in the West African region,
particularly in Sierra Leone which has deteriorated since the last
council mission visited in 2000, Greenstock said.
The conflicts in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cote d'Ivoire over
the past years "have shown how fragile the region of West Africa is in
terms of maintaining its own security and political cohesion," the
U.K. ambassador said. "In pushing the interest of the ordinary
population first, it has been necessary to sustain Security Council
interest in the region and to take specific action."
The ambassador said he hopes the mission will produce conclusions that
will have "a practical and not just an exhortatory influence on what
happens in West Africa" and "will part of a drive to try to get new
resources into the region both for MINUCI and for resolving the
conflict in Liberia."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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