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Security Council briefed on killing of Red Cross workers in DR of Congo

Security Council briefed on killing of Red Cross workers in DR of Congo

The President of the United Nations Security Council said today that last week's murder of six relief workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was a matter of continuing concern for the Council, which hoped that the perpetrators would be caught and brought to justice.

"We will be following this and hoping that those who can are engaged in finding the people responsible and holding them accountable," Council President James Cunningham of the United States told the press today after the Council heard a briefing by UN Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi on the incident.

The six workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were killed on 26 April on the road between Djugu and Fataki in the northeast of the country, some 40 miles north of Bunia. They had been on their way to deliver medicines to a health centre in the area.

"This is a subject of great interest to the Council and it has obvious connections to what we are trying to achieve in the Congo," Ambassador Cunningham said. "We'll keep this on our agenda and, as I told the Secretariat and the Council members, it's something that we should not forget. We should try to follow this up and see that some measure of justice is done."