Global Policy Forum

By William M. Reilly

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Security Council Tuesday neither the Democratic Republic of the Congo nor U.N. troops designated for there are ready for deployment and urged the panel to threaten action against foreign troops if they don't withdraw.

He told the 15-member panel in a written report "the situation in the DRC and the prospects for further progress in the peace process have become particularly uncertain."

The secretary-general was so upset at recent fighting in the former Zaire that over the weekend he expressed his "indignation" at the Kisangani battle and his disappointment at Rwanda and Uganda for not living up to their numerous cease-fire pledges.

The adjacent states went into Congo, Kinshasa, ostensibly to back opposing rebel factions and ended up fighting each other over their neighbor's third largest city, Kisangani, the capital of the diamond-rich northeast of the Congo.

Annan apparently was enraged at the continuing shelling of the city and he had members of the Security Council waiting for him in his 38th floor offices at headquarters for a private meeting when he returned from California Monday night. They met for less than an hour and several ambassadors told United Press International he was seeking to invoke Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which authorizes enforcement of a resolution. But they would first wait for a political meeting scheduled for New York later this week among principle nations involved in the Congo.

Fred Eckhard, Annan's spokesman, said it does not necessarily mean the U.N. Mission in the Congo, known by its acronym MONUC, would deploy armed units to intervene in the fighting around Kisangani and elsewhere in the nation. The first option would be diplomatic pressure, then possible sanctions and only when all else fails armed intervention.

The secretary-general also said the peacekeepers designated to go into the Congo, once there is a peace to keep, do not have the specialized units he has been requesting, are not armed sufficiently or trained in use of those arms, especially in light of what happened to peacekeepers in Sierra Leone.

Rebels there overpowered and detained about 500 peacekeepers before releasing them. They also encircled other peacekeepers but did not disarm them. Annan does not want the United Nations to suffer such a humiliation in the Congo. He also sought additional help from member states both for qualified troops and equipment.

The council has authorized more than 5,000 peacekeepers for the Congo. So far, only unarmed military observers have been dispatched.

"The continued outbreaks of fighting in violation of the ceasefire and the difficulties experienced in the inter-Congolese dialogue augur ill for the timely deployment of the second phase of MONUC," said Annan, who had hoped they could be in by July. "Nevertheless the Secretariat will continue its preparations for deployment in the hope that conditions will soon permit." He said the large scale fighting, particularly in and around Kisangani, calls for "large-scale humanitarian assistance" because of the suffering of civilians.

Since the weekend the Kisangani area has been reported quiet.

Elsewhere in the war-torn nation, the secretary-general said he was "shocked and sadden by the reports received of executions, torture, rape, robbery, the destruction of property and illegal detentions carried out in various parts of the country. The widespread hunger and displacement afflicting entire populations throughout the country are also a cause of dismay."

He said the Political Committee meeting would allow "all the parties to undertake a serious re-evaluation of the deteriorating situation in the DRC. It is also an opportunity for the members of the Security Council to make it clear to the parties that their assurances of support for the peace process and guarantees of security and freedom of movement can no longer be taken at face value."

It was then he urged consideration of invoking Chapter VII provisions.