Security Council discusses report on next phase of UN mission in DR of Congo

The United Nations Security Council today met in closed-door consultations to discuss a recent proposal by Secretary-General Kofi Annan for a transition to a third phase of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which would involve disarming and reintegrating armed elements in the country.

"The Secretary-General, in his report, proposed that there should be a transition to MONUC III in view of the fact that many of the parties in the conflict have not carried out the commitments they had made with regard to troop withdrawal and other arrangements," the current President of the Council, Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury of Bangladesh, told the press today following the Council's consultations.

"There was general support for a transition to MONUC Phase III, followed by a later decision about the launching of Phase III," said Ambassador Chowdhury who is his country's Permanent Representative to the UN.

Ambassador Chowdhury added that Friday, 15 June, was the scheduled date for Council action on a draft resolution concerning the report that was introduced today by Ambassador Jean-David Levitte of France.