Security Council delegation set to arrive in war-torn Bunia, DR of Congo

United Nations Security Council diplomats are expected to arrive in the ravaged northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo town of Bunia today on a mission to revive a political process and end violence in the resource-rich region of Ituri.

While in Bunia, the Council's mission to Central African, led by Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sablière of France, is expected to meet with the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC), the newly authorized multinational emergency force, members of the Ituri Pacification Commission and representatives of all the Iturian communities.

Meanwhile, MONUC has expressed serious concern at the intensified fighting in North Kivu. Three days of escalating violence between rival rebel factions, including the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie (RCD-Goma) and the RCD-Mouvement de Liberation (RCD-ML), have placed the local civilian population as well as the regional peace process at risk. The mission has called for an immediate end to the hostilities and that all parties abide by their obligations under the Lusaka peace accords.