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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: UN troops take over from multinational force

BUNIA, 1 September 2003 (IRIN) - The French-led multinational force in the town of Bunia, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), handed over security duties on Monday to the UN Mission in the country, known as MONUC.

The handover was made at a ceremony presided over by William Swing, the UN secretary-general’s special representative to the DRC. In a speech shortly after the ceremony Swing said, "The most expensive peace is a better bargain than the cheapest war."

He said the multinational force, deployed in June under a UN mandate, had stabilised Bunia and given the UN time to deploy troops with equal authority to that of the outgoing force. The handover of authority, he said, was also a sign that violence in Bunia, and in the rest of Ituri District, was coming to an end.
"The incidents of violence that are still being experienced in Ituri are the final gasps of a conflict that has run its course," he said.

Swing also heads MONUC. He said years of fighting in the district had caused the death of 50,000 people and the displacement of at least 500,000 others. He called on combatants in Ituri to join the peace process, now.

"The train has pulled out of the station and it is gaining speed but it is not too late to jump on board," he said.

The UN Security Council strengthened MONUC on 28 July when it gave the force a Chapter Seven mandate authorising it to use force. "We are prepared to fully use that authority to ensure that Ituri is secure," Swing added.

He said the force, known as the Ituri Brigade, would deploy "quickly" throughout the district.

The commander of the outgoing multinational force, Gen Jean-Paul Thonier, MONUC Force Commander Gen Mountaga Diallo, and the acting commander of the Ituri Brigade, Gen Jern Isberg, who is also the deputy MONUC force commander, attended the handing over ceremony at Camp Ndoromo. The remaining multinational troops were based at the camp that is on a hill overlooking Bunia airport and the rest of the town.

The spokesman of the multinational force, code named "Artemis", Col Gerard Dubois, told IRIN that most of the troops would leave Bunia by 8 September. However, some would remain until 15 September to provide backup for the 2,500-strong MONUC force, mainly comprising contingents from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and Uruguay.

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict

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