Slow UN response “eroding confidence in Lusaka peace deal”

The UN Security Council’s failure to act quickly in support of the Lusaka peace deal has led to “a breakdown in the confidence aroused by the ceasefire agreement”, Zambian representative Peter Kasanda told the UN General Assembly on Thursday. It was one thing to hear about these situations in reports but “quite another to summon up the political will to do something about them”, said Kasanda. He complained that proposals submitted in September by Zambian President Zambia Frederick Chiluba - chief mediator in the DRC peace process - were still sitting on the Council’s table. The Council should “move quickly to erase the impression of double standards by according equal treatment to all crisis situations in the world”, a UN statement quoted Kasanda as saying.