The UN Security Council voted unanimously today to send some 3,000 additional UN peacekeepers to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help prevent a new war in the country's east.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, known by its French acronym MONUC, is the world's biggest UN peacekeeping operation and will be increased temporarily to just over 20,000 troops and police once the reinforcements are deployed.
Aid organizations have criticized MONUC for allowing a humanitarian disaster to develop in eastern Congo, an area the size of France where a quarter of a million people have fled recent fighting between the Congolese army and Tutsi rebels.
France's UN ambassador, Jean-Maurice Ripert, who led negotiations on the French-drafted resolution, told reporters it would probably "take some weeks" to get the reinforcements to Congo. UN officials say it may be months.
Mr Ripert also suggested that MONUC needed to be more aggressive in protecting civilians and implementing its mandate.
"The rules of engagement, if they are strong enough, they are not being used strongly enough," he said.
Congo's UN Ambassador, Atoki Ileka, told reporters that he would have liked more than 3,000 new peacekeepers but welcomed any increase.
He said the boost would only make a difference if countries contributing troops removed restrictions that have been making it difficult for MONUC commanders to move forces into hotspots in North Kivu province.
Some national contingents were reporting directly to their national capitals instead of to MONUC commanders, he said, and those troops "tend to be reluctant to engage" in combat.
"We need to have some more robust rules of engagement of the UN," he said.
In Congo, Lt.-Col. Jean-Paul Dietrich, military spokesman for MONUC, welcomed the adoption of the resolution.
"This is excellent news," he said. "Hopefully this will bring the peace process forward. It is now up to the contributing countries to come up with the troops."
On the ground, renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda, who demands direct talks on Congo's future with President Joseph Kabila, agreed to move his troops back after meeting with a special UN peace envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Mr Nkunda pledged to respect a shaky cease-fire and take part in UN-backed peace negotiations.
Reuters