November 9, 2001
The Security Council unanimously approved a resolution giving the go-ahead to a new phase in the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in Congo and demanding an end to all hostilities.
The council at the weekend backed Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recommendation to start implementing the next phase in the peace process which calls for the withdrawal of all foreign forces in Congo and the disarmament, demobilisation and repatriation of armed groups. "The peace process in the Congo may be at a turning point," Annan told an open meeting of the council with parties to the 1999 Congo cease-fire accord, which is still being violated.
Congo's civil war broke out in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda backed Congolese rebels seeking to oust thenpresident Laurent Kabila. Troops from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola now back the government, and Burundi joined the fray to fight Burundian rebels based in eastern Congo. The Lusaka Accord, which was repeatedly violated, gained momentum after Joseph Kabila became president of Congo in January, following his father's assassination. The UN-monitored cease-fire has largely held this year, despite continued fighting in the east.
The council resolution welcomed "the general respect for the cease-fire", but demanded that the parties to the Lusaka agreement "cease any form of support to the armed groups, particularly in the east of the country." It stressed the importance of deploying UN military observers in eastern Congo. Council members expressed "concern" at yesterday's announcement that Congo's two main rebel groups have agreed to set up a 4100-strong force to track down and disarm insurgents from neighbouring Rwanda and Burundi and planned to deploy a joint special force in the eastern town of Kindu.
The Security Council stressed that the demilitarisation of Kindu is essential for the UN force to ensure that the voluntary disarmament and demobilisation of armed groups takes place "in a neutral environment." The council also reiterated its call for the demilitarisation of Kisangani, Congo's second-largest city. France's UN ambassador Jean-David Levitte said the council decided to reinforce the UN military presence in Kisangani in the coming months. In addition, Levitte said the council decided to send up to 2000 troops to Kindu by next summer to monitor the disarmament of armed groups and the withdrawal of all foreign forces.
The council welcomed the withdrawal of some foreign forces from Congo and urged others to comply with the accord's demand for a total pullout.
Annan said the withdrawal of Namibian troops and many Ugandan soldiers "is encouraging," and he urged the governments of Angola, Zimbabwe and Rwanda "to speed up preparations for a rapid withdrawal of their troops." The secretary-general said the reopening of the Congo River "is the most important single step that can now be taken to reunite the country and stimulate its economic and social life." Rebels from the Congolese Rally for Democracy have blocked a UN initiative to reopen the river.
Meanwhile, the main Congolese rebel movement said on Saturday their forces repulsed a major offensive by a coalition of forces backed by the Kinshasa government near Fizi in eastern Congo. "We have crushed a major attack by our enemies backed by the regime in Kinshasa," Kin-Kiey Mulumba, spokesman of the Rally for the Congolese Democracy said.
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