Security Council hears of worsening situation

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, Bernard Miyet, has noted a serious deterioration in the DRC military situation over the past three months. Briefing the Security Council last week, he said UN military liaison officers had been deployed but until the observer mission MONUC was guaranteed full security and freedom of movement, the department of peacekeeping operations would not be able to fully assess security conditions. Action must be taken to stop the situation from deteriorating further and the parties themselves bore the main responsibility for that, he added. The US representative told the meeting his country wanted a peacekeeping operation in the DRC, but it wanted to "get it right". The Council should not vote on a resolution until it knew what it was voting for, he said. Namibia's representative called on the Council to assume its responsibilities. "If the Council waits for perfect peace in the DRC before it takes action, everything that has been achieved will be lost," he stressed.