Troops And Drones To Bolster New UN Congo Peace Bid
http://nigeriaafrica1.blogspot.com/2013/01/troops-and-drones-to-bolster-new-un.html
Eight African leaders will on Monday launch a new bid to calm eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the UN wants to send an 'intervention brigade' and surveillance drones to counter armed rebels.
An uprising by the M23 group, which took a large chunk of territory in November, forced the United Nations to broker its latest attempt to end more than a decade of strife.
The presidents of DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Angola, Republic of Congo, South Africa and Tanzania will sign a commitment to end the conflict on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, UN officials said.
Alongside the diplomacy, the United Nations wants to toughen its mission in DR Congo with a 2,500-strong "intervention brigade" to tackle M23 and other armed groups.
Tanzania and South Africa are leading contenders to provide the first special force, UN diplomats said.
"It's not simple peacekeeping, this is peace enforcement. It is much more robust and needs the right combination of troops," said a UN peacekeeping official.
The three battalions will "neutralize the threat of the armed groups through targeted operations against command and control structures, against specific sites," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because UN leader Ban Ki-moon has not yet officially announced the force.
Ban has been working on new security plan to present to the UN Security Council since the M23 took the city of Goma in November, sweeping aside the DR Congo army.
UN experts have accused neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda of aiding M23. Both deny any role. But the "intervention brigade" will be charged with tackling all armed groups who have terrorised the resource-rich region over the past 15 years.
The UN Security Council has also authorized the use of surveillance drones to monitor DR Congo's border with Rwanda and UN officials hope the troops and new spies in the sky will be operating within three months.
The peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, MONUSCO, is the UN biggest peacekeeping force.
It currently has about 17,000 troops and under its Security Council mandate is allowed to have up to 19,800 troops.
UN officials are still working on a final version of the political accord but are confident it will be signed in Addis Ababa on Monday.
The presidents of DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Angola, Republic of Congo, South Africa and Tanzania will sign a commitment to end the conflict on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, UN officials said.
Alongside the diplomacy, the United Nations wants to toughen its mission in DR Congo with a 2,500-strong "intervention brigade" to tackle M23 and other armed groups.
Tanzania and South Africa are leading contenders to provide the first special force, UN diplomats said.
"It's not simple peacekeeping, this is peace enforcement. It is much more robust and needs the right combination of troops," said a UN peacekeeping official.
The three battalions will "neutralize the threat of the armed groups through targeted operations against command and control structures, against specific sites," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because UN leader Ban Ki-moon has not yet officially announced the force.
Ban has been working on new security plan to present to the UN Security Council since the M23 took the city of Goma in November, sweeping aside the DR Congo army.
UN experts have accused neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda of aiding M23. Both deny any role. But the "intervention brigade" will be charged with tackling all armed groups who have terrorised the resource-rich region over the past 15 years.
The UN Security Council has also authorized the use of surveillance drones to monitor DR Congo's border with Rwanda and UN officials hope the troops and new spies in the sky will be operating within three months.
The peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, MONUSCO, is the UN biggest peacekeeping force.
It currently has about 17,000 troops and under its Security Council mandate is allowed to have up to 19,800 troops.
UN officials are still working on a final version of the political accord but are confident it will be signed in Addis Ababa on Monday.
