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Security Council authorizes deployment of emergency force for DR of Congo

Security Council authorizes deployment of emergency force for DR of Congo

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Signalling its “utmost concern” at the fighting and atrocities in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations Security Council today authorized the deployment of an international emergency force to help stabilize the situation in the country’s volatile north-east, where ethnic fighting has killed more than 400 people.

By the unanimous adoption of a new resolution, the Council authorized the deployment of an Interim Emergency Multinational Force in the town of Bunia – where an inter-ethnic power struggle has been raging for weeks – until 1 September, and empowers it to take all necessary measures to fulfil its mandate.

Determining that the situation in Ituri, and particularly in Bunia, constituted a threat to the peace process in the DRC and to peace and security in the wider Great Lakes region, the resolution stipulated that the Interim Force is to contribute to the stabilization of the security and grave humanitarian situation in Bunia.

The Force would also ensure the protection of the local airport, the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the camps in Bunia and, if the situation requires it, to participate in the protection of the population, UN personnel and the humanitarian presence in town.

The Council stressed that the Force is to be deployed on a strictly temporary basis to reinforce the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC). In that regard, the text authorized Secretary-General Kofi Annan to deploy, within the overall authorized MONUC ceiling, a reinforced UN presence to Bunia, and requests him to do so by mid-August.

The resolution called on UN Member States to contribute personnel, equipment and other necessary financial and logistic resources to the multinational force, and called specifically on countries in Great Lakes region to provide all necessary support to facilitate its swift deployment in Bunia.

Strongly condemning the deliberate killing of unarmed MONUC personnel and the staff of other humanitarian organizations, the Council demanded that all parties to the conflict in Ituri cease hostilities immediately. It also insisted that all Congolese parties and all States in the Great Lakes region cooperate with the Force and with MONUC, and required that they refrain from any activity that could further destabilize the situation in Bunia, chiefly providing weapons and other support to armed groups or militias.