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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: Official says MONUC ready to implement new mandate

NAIROBI, 5 August 2003 (IRIN) - The new head of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), William Swing, said on Monday that the mission's troops were ready and sufficient to secure the embattled eastern district of Ituri, the scene of heavy inter-militia fighting in recent months, Radio France International reported.

In an interview regarding a recent UN Security Council resolution that extended MONUC's mandate by one year and gave it greater powers to act, Swing said there would be about 2,000 MONUC troops in Ituri by mid-August, on hand to replace the French-led Interim Emergency Multinational Force that is due complete its term on 1 September. The Security Council also authorised a force level increase from 8,700 to 10,800 troops.

MONUC plans to have 3,800 troops in Ituri in early September, "and this will be sufficient with the mandate under Chapter Seven [of the UN Charter], along with robust rules of engagement - more or less similar to those of Artemis, the current EU-led multinational force," Swing told the radio.

He said MONUC troops would be "actively installed" in several parts of Ituri. "But the [deployment] plan is not yet decided," he added. It is currently under discussion between the multinational force and MONUC. He said MONUC would complete the deployment in early September.

MONUC would also enforce the Security Council's provision for an arms embargo contained in the resolution by reinforcing its presence in areas such as airstrips, airports and along borders, Swing said.

"We want it [the ban on weapons] in place because this problem is at the root of violent confrontations in Ituri, particularly in Bunia," he said.

He said it the Security Council would decide on the nature of punishment for armed groups that failed to comply with the embargo.

He added that the resolution stated that the council members would revisit the arms embargo issue after 12 months "in order to undertake the necessary actions if the measures that we have taken should prove insufficient or inefficient".

Swing said MONUC condemned the resumption of fighting in South Kivu, saying there was no justification for the violence. "There is now a government comprising all the parties that were fighting each other before," he said. "If differences occurred among them, they should be sorted out within the government in [the capital] Kinshasa."

"A culture of tolerance is being created, and I think those acts must cease as soon as possible," Swing said, adding that that was why MONUC staff had been sent to the east.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

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