Govt, rebels want more from UN

2008-11-21 14:12

Kinshasa - The Democratic Republic of Congo government on Friday called for a stronger mandate for the UN force in the country to go with UN Security Council approval of 3 000 extra peacekeepers.

Opposition rebels warned that the extra United Nations peacekeepers should not replace added pressure for the government to start talks.

The UN Security Council voted on Thursday to temporarily send an extra 3 000 peacekeepers to DR Congo where rebel fighters loyal to renegade general have swept aside government forces and advanced to the gates of the main city in the east of the country.

"It is a decision that we all wanted," government spokesperson Lamert Mende Omalanga, the communications minister, said.

"The conception of the MONUC (UN mission) mandate must also be reviewed because each time there is an emergency, it (MONUC) has always raised legal questions about its mandate," said Mende.

There are currently 17 000 troops in the UN Mission in DR Congo which is the largest UN force anywhere in the world.

"It needs a mandate that is a lot more appropriate to the circumstances on the ground," said the minister who said the force did not have the means to carry out its mission.

Nkunda spokesperson Bertrand Bisimwa said the Security Council decision "is proof of the engagement of the international community to the Congolese people".

"But rather than an over-militarisation of the region, the UN should do more to make the belligerents negotiate as quickly as possible," he said in a telephone interview.

Bisimwa said that the UN force should not do the work of the national army. "The UN should push the parties in the conflict into dialogue to allow the creation of a new army."

The conflict erupted again in August with Nkunda accusing the Kinshasa government of discriminating against the Tutsi minority.

- AFP