UN help sought to cope with Congolese refugees

The volume of Congolese refugees arriving in Bangui slowed down to tens on Wednesday after numbering in the thousands on Monday and Tuesday, due to fears of the Congolese rebel Mouvement de liberation congolais (MLC) taking the city of Zongo, just across the river, in a continuing offensive, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Wednesday. The MLC's advances had brought an influx of 4,000 Congolese refugees into Bangui since the weekend, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Oluyemi Adeniji, told reporters on Tuesday. The total number of new Congolese arrivals in the Central African Republic was estimated on Wednesday to be between 14,000 and 15,000. The influx had led President Ange-Felix Patasse to write to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan requesting urgent humanitarian assistance to provide for them. While no pledges had yet been made, the request would be included in an imminent statement on humanitarian needs, Adeniji said.