U.N. says more peacekeepers won't bring peace to Congo
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More U.N. peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo could help stabilise the east of the country, which has been ravaged by renewed fighting, but will not bring peace to the region, the top U.N. official in Congo said on Tuesday.
"Reinforcements are not going to resolve all the problems," Alan Doss, head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, told reporters via video link from Kinshasa.
"Reinforcements will allow us to do something about the situation, which has deteriorated fast, help us to stabilise the situation a bit, and allow the political and diplomatic process to go forward."
France has drafted a Security Council resolution granting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's request for 3,000 additional troops and police for the peacekeeping mission in Congo to help contain a humanitarian disaster caused by the fighting.
The 15-nation council could vote as early as Wednesday on the resolution, which would temporarily raise the limit for the U.N.'s biggest peacekeeping mission to over 20,000, and diplomats said it was likely to be approved.
Although the increase in U.N. peacekeepers will not end the conflict, Doss said it would improve his ability to protect civilians and increase flexibility in deploying troops across eastern Congo, a region roughly the size of France.
U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy has said it could take months to get additional peacekeepers into Congo but Doss said he wanted to accelerate the process.
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