Security Council team arrives in Johannesburg for talks on Great Lakes conflict

A delegation of the United Nations Security Council arrived in South Africa today on the first leg of a nine-nation mission aimed at promoting the peace process in the Great Lakes region.

Upon arrival in Johannesburg, the head of the mission, French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte, told reporters that the Council members were travelling to the area to help parties move the Lusaka peace process forward, and that their presence underscored the region's importance to the UN.

Tomorrow in Johannesburg, the delegation, which is comprised of Ambassadors from 12 Council member States, will hold separate meetings with Sir Ketumile Masire, the facilitator of the Inter-Congolese dialogue; former President Nelson Mandela, facilitator of the Burundi Peace Process; and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. In the afternoon, the group will fly to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The mission will end on 25 May, after visits to South Africa, DRC, Angola, Namibia, Zambia, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda.