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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: UN envoy for a unified national army arrives in Kinshasa

KINSHASA, 20 June 2003 (IRIN) - Gen Maurice Baril, one of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoys to help with the formation of a unified national army in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), arrived in the capital, Kinshasa, on Thursday, the spokesman for the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) said.

"He arrived last night and will spend some days with MONUC to get an update on the situation in the DRC," Hamadoun Toure, the spokesman, told IRIN on Friday.

Following more than four years of war, Congolese parties reached a power-sharing agreement in April that called for the formation of a unified national army. However, disagreement over the sharing of posts in the army has delayed the inauguration of a national transition government, due to be installed by 30 June.

On 22 May, the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) rebel movement suspended its participation in the follow-up committee to the inter-Congolese dialogue, accusing the Kinshasa government of trying to monopolise control of a unified national army. However, the group rejoined the negotiations on 30 May.

Another envoy appointed by Annan to help Baril with the task, Moustapha Niasse, who had served as Annan's special envoy for the DRC peace process, is due to arrive in the coming days.

Baril, the former chief of staff of Canada's armed forces, has also served as a military advisor to the UN Security Council.
"The two men will be available to work with all parties to help move along the constitution of a new national government," Patricia Tome, MONUC’s chief of public information, said at a news conference on 4 June. "Mr Annan hopes that progress on the political front will help to influence progress on the military front."

Under a 2 April power-sharing accord, the transitional national government would be headed by current DRC President Joseph Kabila, with four vice-presidents selected from the two primary rebel movements - RCD-Goma and the Mouvement de liberation du Congo - as well as from the unarmed political opposition and from Kabila's present government.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

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