The Security Council on Friday authorized the withdrawal of up to 2,000 troops from the UN peacekeeping force in Congo (MONUC) over the next month, but made no pledge on further cuts despite pressure from Kinshasa.
Potential investors and human rights groups fear a too hasty withdrawal of the 20,500-member MONUC force would trigger more violence in a country struggling to recover from a 1998 to 2003 war and still battling rebels across its territory.
Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila wants the force out by the end of next year for what UN officials say are reasons of national pride.
A resolution passed unanimously by the 15-nation Security Council authorized “the withdrawal of up to 2,000 United Nations military personnel by 30 June 2010 from areas where the security situation permits.”
The resolution extended the mandate of MONUC — the largest UN peace force anywhere in the world — until the end of June, and said it would be renamed MONUSCO, a new French acronym that makes it a “stabilization” mission.
MONUSCO was authorized to stay in Congo for an additional year, and the council said future reductions in the force would depend on conditions on the ground and the achievement of goals by the Congo government and the UN force.
These would include completion of operations in the turbulent east against guerrilla groups including the Rwandan Hutu FDLR and the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army, as well as an improved ability by the government to protect its population.
Aid workers say Congolese army troops, as well as guerrilla groups, have committed atrocities, including murders, rapes and robberies, on civilians in eastern Congo, where competition to exploit valuable minerals combines with ethnic tensions.
The council was determined to avoid a security vacuum that could spawn more violence in the country, said the resolution, which passed at a brief council meeting.
Despite the lack of a solid commitment to remove MONUSCO next year, Congo’s Information Minister Lambert Mende said his country was happy with the resolution.
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