Top EU official to visit region

The EU high representative for the common foreign and security policy, Javier Solana, will visit Africa's Great Lakes region on 15 and 16 July for talks with national leaders and to see the EU-led peace enforcement mission in Bunia, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the EU reported on Friday. On 18 July, Solana is due to present a report on the operation to the UN Security Council. He is due to meet DRC President Joseph Kabila and his vice-presidents on Tuesday, in Kinshasa. Solana is also scheduled to meet with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative, William Swing. Discussions will focus on EU support for stabilisation and the peace process in the region, the EU stated. Solana will then travel to Kigali to meet with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, and then to Kampala for talks with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. On Wednesday, Solana will go to Bunia, the main city of the embattled Ituri District of northeastern DRC, where he will visit the EU force, known as Operation Artemis. He is also scheduled to meet with NGOs in charge of humanitarian support to the local population as well as with the UN peacekeeping mission, known as MONUC. The EU military operation in Bunia is being conducted in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1484 of 30 May 2003, which authorised the deployment of an interim emergency multinational force until 1 September. The EU said its military force was working in close coordination with MONUC to contribute to the stabilisation of the security conditions and the improvement of the humanitarian situation in Bunia.