More troops 'won't bring peace'

2008-11-19 12:31

New York - More UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo could help stabilise the east of the country, which has been ravaged by renewed fighting, but will not bring peace to the region, the top UN official in Congo said on Tuesday.

"Reinforcements are not going to resolve all the problems," Alan Doss, head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, told reporters via video link from Kinshasa.

"Reinforcements will allow us to do something about the situation, which has deteriorated fast, help us to stabilise the situation a bit, and allow the political and diplomatic process to go forward."

France has drafted a Security Council resolution granting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's request for 3 000 additional troops and police for the peacekeeping mission in Congo to help contain a humanitarian disaster caused by the fighting.

The 15-nation council could vote as early as Wednesday on the resolution, which would temporarily raise the limit for the UN's biggest peacekeeping mission to more than 20 000, and diplomats said it was likely to be approved.

Although the increase in UN peacekeepers will not end the conflict, Doss said it would improve his ability to protect civilians and increase flexibility in deploying troops across eastern Congo, a region roughly the size of France.

UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy has said it could take months to get additional peacekeepers into Congo but Doss said he wanted to accelerate the process.

Congolese rebels loyal to renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda announced a military pullback to support efforts by a special UN envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, to end the fighting between the rebels and Congolese government forces.

Doss said he hoped the announcement would be the first step toward talks between the rebels and the government. Congolese President Joseph Kabila has already rejected several requests from Nkunda for direct talks.

"I hope this new proposal ... together with proposals for a verification mechanism for the ceasefire will go forward," Doss said.

They were trying to build on momentum created by Obasanjo to halt the fighting, expand humanitarian access to refugees and improve conditions for dialogue between the warring factions, he added, noting that the humanitarian situation was improving though it was still dire.

Obasanjo also met Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the weekend to try to stop the conflict from escalating into a repeat of a 1998-2003 war in Congo, in which millions of people died.

- Reuters