Global Policy Forum

The rebels control about half of the country

UN peacekeeping head, Bernard Miyet, has arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to prepare the ground for deploying UN forces. Mr Miyet is expected to hold talks in the capital, Kinshasa, on Friday with President Laurent Kabila, before visiting other countries which have troops involved in the 18-month conflict.

Rebel forces, backed by Uganda and Rwanda, have been fighting government forces backed by Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, in what has been described as Africa's first world war.

The UN Security Council approved a 5,500 member force last month to monitor the shaky cease-fire, but is insisting that the warring parties provide guarantees that hostilities will end, before the force could be deployed.

Commitment

The UN says all parties to the conflict must commit themselves to a cease-fire and come up with a viable plan for disengagement. Although a peace deal was signed in Zambia in July last year, fighting has continued. "There must be an effective ceasefire, not the ceasefire we have seen since last July which has practically never been respected," says UN envoy Kemal Morjane, who is head of a small team of military observers already in the DRCongo.

Rwanda has already said the proposed UN force, of 500 observers and 5,000 soldiers is too small to have an impact in a country the size of Western Europe.

Peacekeeping bases

The UN plans to set up operations at four bases: Kindu and Kisangani in rebel-held territory and Mbuji-Mayi and Mbandaka in government-held regions. Troops will be sent from Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan and Senegal to form a force that will provide protection and logistical support.

It could be the first batch of a larger peacekeeping operation involving as many as 20,000 troops. But such a large undertaking will depend on any significant progress being made towards ending the fighting.