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Congo river to reopen to commercial traffic

    NAIROBI

    The recent meeting of United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Keeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno with the leaders of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) and the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC), has yielded a significant breakthrough in the reopening of the River Congo to commercial traffic, a statement from the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (known by its French acronym, MONUC) said on Friday.

    According to MONUC, Guehenno met RCD leader Adolphe Onusumba and MLC leader Jean-Pierre Bemba on the fringes of the inter-Congolese dialogue in Sun City, South Africa. "The two leaders reassured Mr Guehenno of their commitment to reopen the River Congo as soon as possible," the statement said.

    It said that whilst discussions with the MLC "are close to being finalised", the RCD had asked for the practical details to be defined before an agreement could be achieved.

    "MONUC is delighted with this positive development, which will allow both humanitarian convoys and commercial traffic onto the river. The river constitutes a vital artery to the free movement of people and goods into the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and equally for the river's bordering states," the statement added.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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