Security in Central Africa still fragile despite recent advances, Annan tells UN meeting

Although there has been substantial progress in establishing peace, democracy and the rule of law across Central Africa, the situation remains fragile and several countries could easily slip back, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today in a message to a United Nations committee meeting on security in the region.

In a message delivered in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, by the UN Resident Coordinator Bintou Keita, Mr. Annan told the UN Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa that he was particularly disturbed by the conditions in the border area between Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan.

The situation there “is fraught with danger,” he said, citing recent instability in Chad and calling for greater dialogue and reconciliation. “It could destabilize all of central Africa. The international community must step up its efforts to effectively secure the borders in that area.”

The Secretary-General also voiced concern about “the precarious security situation” in the CAR and the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where rebel groups and militias have committed human rights abuses.

But he praised the large turnout in the DRC’s landmark presidential and legislative elections on 30 July and called on the Congolese to “seize the opportunity they are being offered to build a better future for their country.” He also welcomed the recent ceasefire deal in Burundi between the Government and the last key rebel group from the civil war, the Palipehutu-Forces Nationale du Libération (FNL).