UN impressed by government's "sense of purpose"

In a separate letter to the president of the Security Council on 10 December, Annan said CAR President Ange-Felix Patasse had expressed concern over the MINURCA withdrawal. The president would have preferred that the UN mission stay until December 2000, even with a reduced military strength. Annan said members of last month's UN mission to Bangui were impressed by their talks with the CAR authorities, noting the "professionalism and sense of purpose" of the new government. The proposal to set up the post-MINURCA peace-building office was the fruit of these talks, he added. "In order to achieve a seamless transition from peacekeeping to post-conflict peace-building, every effort will be made to ensure that BONUCA is operational on 15 February 2000," Annan stated.