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Africa Subsaharan | ||
Ban steps up diplomacy to settle Congo conflict | ||
2008-11-01 | ||
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — UN chief Ban Ki-moon is stepping up efforts to settle the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), asking his peacekeeping chief to travel to the region, his press office said Friday. The secretary general, who is on a brief visit to Nepal, was sending Alain Le Roy, the head of UN peacekeeping, to the region and had discussed the crisis with a number of world leaders over the past two days, a UN statement said.
Ban stressed that the 17,000-strong UN mission in DRC (MONUC) "must be given the additional resources it needs to carry out its mandate" and that humanitarian workers should be allowed to work "without hindrance." And he asked the UN Security Council to speed up efforts "to support or complement" MONUC, which has deployed 850 troops to maintain security and protect civilians in Goma, after Rwandan-backed Nkunda loyalists threatened to seize the city. MONUC has requested troop reinforcements while France has suggested sending sending an EU battle group of up to 1,500 troops to bolster UN troops in Nord Kivu.
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Posted by:Steve White |