|
UN: DR
CONGO: UN MISSION STRESSES ITS GOAL IS TO HELP RESTORE STATE AUTHORITY:
17/10/2007
(MaximsNews Network)
|
UNITED
NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 17 October 2007 –The
United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
remains committed to helping the Government and its armed forces restore state
authority, the mission’s military chief said today after reports from the
troubled North Kivu province that locals and soldiers have been hostile to the
blue helmets.
Gen.
Babacar Gaye, the force commander of the mission (known as MONUC), told a press
conference in Kinshasa that he had learned that locals in Masisi territory had
thrown stones at UN peacekeepers after they evacuated members of the armed
forces (FARDC) during recent clashes.
“This
equates to incomprehension of the nature of our action by the local
population,” he said. “I also received a report yesterday that FARDC
soldiers arriving into Goma had a less than friendly attitude towards our
troops.”
Both
North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, which sit at the far eastern edge of the
vast DRC, have been the scene of deadly clashes in recent months between
Government forces, dissident soldiers led by renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda and
other armed groups.
MONUC
estimates there are as many as 700,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in
North Kivu alone as a result of fighting this year, which has taken place as the
rest of the country tries to consolidate after landmark presidential and
parliamentary elections last year and the earlier formal end to the long-running
civil war.
Gen.
Gaye stressed that the mandate of MONUC was very clear – to help the
Government restore its authority across the entire country – and that its
priority was to ensure the security of the local population.
“We
give advice and assistance to the FARDC. MONUC supports the FARDC in North Kivu
with air reconnaissance, and air transport for munitions, troops and the
evacuation of wounded. The towns of Goma and Sake are also protected by MONUC.”
The
General added that the mission also escorts humanitarian convoys in North Kivu
and has deployed mobile operating bases to make it easier to reach people living
in the displaced camps.
MONUC
spokesperson Kemal Saiki also told journalists that the mission categorically
denied recent reports in the Congolese press that the peacekeepers were in any
way supporting the factional forces loyal to Gen. Nkunda.
The
situation in North Kivu remains extremely tense, two days after Nkunda troops
surrounded a school in the Rutshuru area and tried to enlist children there into
their force.
About
150 schoolchildren were given refuge by MONUC blue helmets after fleeing the
recruitment attempts by the Nkunda forces.
Meanwhile,
in the nearby Ituri province, UN disarmament workers have reported that about
1,800 former combatants have joined the cantonment sites, where they have to
give up their weapons and reintegrate into civil society.
But an
unknown number of fighters, including those belonging to the FNI armed group,
continue to oppose the disarmament drive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
~~~~~
MaximsNews.com, An Independent Voice from the
U.N., provides commentary and analysis from
leading world figures: King Abdullah II
(Jordan), HRH Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein
(Jordan), Sir Brian Urquhart, Hans Blix, Amb.
Richard Holbrooke, Anwar Ibrahim, Bianca Jagger,
Dr. Nafis Sadik, Shashi Tharoor, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Noeleen Heyzer,
Masood Haider, Kerry
Kennedy, Ian Williams, Stephen Schlesinger, Sen.
Timothy E. Wirth, Marc Morial, Amb. Jayantha
Dhanapala (Sri Lanka), Amb. Pierre Schori
(Sweden), Amb. William H. Luers, Susan Roosevelt
Weld, Rory Kennedy, Mehri
Madarshahi, J. Michael Adams, Gloria Feldt,
Jeffrey Laurenti, Rodney D. Smith, Ashley
Bommer, Rory
O'Connor, Genevieve Stamper, Max Stamper and
others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MaximsNews®
LLC
NEWS NETWORK FOR THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
MaximsNews Network® LLC is a Global News Network reaching over 30,000 in the International Community. It is associated with MediaChannel.org and Globalvision News Network, global news and media information services with more than 350 news affiliates in 135 countries.
Established in 1999.
The views expressed are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of MaximsNews®
LLC.
MaximsNews.com
U.N. ® LLC www.MaximsNews.com
| MaximsNews@MaximsNews.com |
Please
contact us about Republishing:
Syndication@MaximsNews.com ©Copyrights 1999 - 2007, MaximsNews® LLC. All rights
reserved.
|
