Troops to leave Congo
Source: Agencies |
March 7, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
The United Nations could begin withdrawing troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the biggest UN peacekeeping mission in the world, as early as June, the peacekeeping chief said on Friday.
ìIt was a clear request from the government of Kinshasa and from the president that the first draw-down should start around June 2010 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the independence of the Congo,? UN peacekeeping head Alain Le Roy said after he briefed the Security Council.
The peacekeeping mission, known as MONUC, has been in the former Belgian colony since 1999 to help the government as it struggles to re-establish control over the vast central African nation.
A 1998-2003 war and the ensuing humanitarian disaster have killed an estimated 5.4 million people.
Le Roy said the withdrawals would only involve peacekeepers in the relatively peaceful western part of the country.
He said withdrawals from the unstable east would begin in June 2011 at the earliest.
ìIn the east it will take much more time before we can think of withdrawing military forces from there,? he said. ìIt will take much more time before the critical tasks ... are implemented.?
The UN estimates that some 1,500 people die every day in eastern Congo, many due to disease and dirty water.
Diplomats and UN officials have made clear the withdrawal of MONUCís nearly 20,000 troops and police from the mineral-rich country, called Zaire until 1997, would have to be done slowly.
The next MONUC mandate expires at the end of May.
ìIt was a clear request from the government of Kinshasa and from the president that the first draw-down should start around June 2010 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the independence of the Congo,? UN peacekeeping head Alain Le Roy said after he briefed the Security Council.
The peacekeeping mission, known as MONUC, has been in the former Belgian colony since 1999 to help the government as it struggles to re-establish control over the vast central African nation.
A 1998-2003 war and the ensuing humanitarian disaster have killed an estimated 5.4 million people.
Le Roy said the withdrawals would only involve peacekeepers in the relatively peaceful western part of the country.
He said withdrawals from the unstable east would begin in June 2011 at the earliest.
ìIn the east it will take much more time before we can think of withdrawing military forces from there,? he said. ìIt will take much more time before the critical tasks ... are implemented.?
The UN estimates that some 1,500 people die every day in eastern Congo, many due to disease and dirty water.
Diplomats and UN officials have made clear the withdrawal of MONUCís nearly 20,000 troops and police from the mineral-rich country, called Zaire until 1997, would have to be done slowly.
The next MONUC mandate expires at the end of May.
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