Security Council extends UN mission in DR of Congo for 12 months

The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) will continue until at least the end of June 2003, the UN Security Council decided today.

The 15-member body this morning unanimously adopted a resolution extending MONUC's mandate for 12 months, in accordance with the recommendation it received from Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a report released three days ago.

The Council also called on UN Member States to contribute troops to the mission, so it could reach its authorized strength of 5,537. As of 5 June, only a little over 3,800 of those troops had been provided, according to the Secretary-General's report.

Both Mr. Annan and his Special Representative for DRC, Amos Ngongi, had warned Council members that – at current troop levels – MONUC was not able to intervene rapidly to protect civilians, even though the Security Council has mandated it to “protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.”

The resolution also condemns recent ethnically and nationally-based calls for violence heard in DRC, as well as the killings that took place in Kisangani in mid-May.