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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: MONUC staff released, observer mission sent to North Kivu

NAIROBI, 23 June 2003 (IRIN) - Two UN military observers abducted last week in the town of Beni, in North Kivu Province of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have been found "safe and sound", the UN Mission in the DRC, MONUC, reported.

It said the observers, from Tunisia and Russia, were found on Saturday in Kamango, a territory 30 km northeast of Beni.

"This positive outcome is the result of intensive searches carried out upon instruction of RCD-K/ML [Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Kisangani/Mouvement de liberation] leader [Mbusa Nyamwisi], with effective cooperation of RCD-K/ML representatives in Beni and members of the religious communities," MONUC stated.

The French news agency AFP reported Nyamwisi as saying that an investigation to determine who was responsible for the abduction on Thursday was underway.

In a related development, MONUC announced on Saturday that it had sent a mission to the scene of recent fighting in North Kivu to discuss the implementation of the Bujumbura Act of Engagement signed on 19 June in the Burundian capital.

MONUC's military observer patrols would be organised along the Beni-Butembo-Lubero axes in order to verify accusations leveled by various belligerent parties, namely the RCD-K/ML and RCD-Goma.
On Sunday, a team of international observers of the transitional process in the DRC announced that it had devised a plan to resolve the impasse in the formation of an integrated national army. The International Committee to Accompany the Transition said it would present the plan on Monday in the DRC capital, Kinshasa.

Also on Monday, the UN Security Council planned to discuss the situation in the DRC, UN News reported. The council's meeting is to be held behind closed doors and is expected to review the latest developments in the DRC, where ongoing fighting has been complicating UN efforts to improve stability and deliver aid to residents.

UN News reported that up to 200,000 people were believed to have fled from towns in North Kivu following the latest offensive by the RCD-Goma. UN agencies and NGOs have been evacuating staff from Beni and Butembo, warning that if the offensive continues, more people would flee, exhausting the capacity of relief agencies to adequately respond to increasing humanitarian needs.

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

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