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Eastern DR of Congo calm but volatile as dissidents discuss pull-back, UN says

Eastern DR of Congo calm but volatile as dissidents discuss pull-back, UN says

USG Guéhenno briefs journalists
The situation in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was relatively calm but volatile as dissident leaders met with United Nations representatives today to discuss withdrawing the forces that seized control of the town of Bukavu yesterday, a UN spokesman said.

Congolese, misinterpreting the mandate of the UN mission (MONUC) and blaming peacekeeping troops for not intervening in the civil strife in Bukavu, attacked UN buildings and equipment, spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

The DRC's national troops, whose responsibility it was to restore peace, fled yesterday, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

UN peacekeeping chief Jean Marie Guéhenno, just back from the region, said the backlash against MONUC came about because local expectations were not met. He noted, however, that while the DRC was as big as the whole of Western Europe, the UN had only about 10,000 troops countrywide, at a time when no one had expected the breakdown of the DRC's own army.

By way of comparison, he noted that Sierra Leone, which was the size of just the DRC's Ituri province, had had 17,000 UN troops deployed there.

Because of the peacekeeping success in Ituri, the expectations of the Congolese were raised and they believed that "MONUC, with its limited resources, could do everything, including secure a big city of 550,000 people against an organized, well-equipped, well-trained military force," he said.

In addition, there has been a delay in the Government's integration of combatants from local forces into the national army, Mr. Guéhenno said.

Yesterday's violent protests against the UN continued today in Kinshasa, Kisangani, Lubumbashi and Kindu, according to Mr. Eckhard.

In the DRC's capital, Kinshasa, "the UN headquarters, compounds and vehicles were attacked and it is reported that three demonstrators, who entered the premises despite warning shots, were killed," he said. "In the three other cities, UN buildings and property were looted and torched."

Mayi-Mayi militia in Kando, a town southwest of Goma, briefly held four UN military observers and three employees of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), he said.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed deep concern and spoke to DRC President Joseph Kabila earlier today. "President Kabila assured him that both he personally and the Transitional Government fully support the United Nations in the DRC and, in particular, MONUC," Mr. Eckhard said.

"The Secretary-General strongly urges the military elements in Bukavu to respect the ceasefire. He calls on the DRC's neighbours to support the peace process and to use their influence to defuse the situation in the eastern DRC."

According to OCHA, Mr. Kabila accused Rwanda of backing the insurgency, while the Kigali Government denied any involvement.

More than 2,000 Congolese Tutsis, or Banyamulenge, from the Bukavu area fled into neighbouring Rwanda over the past couple of weeks, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).