UN appeals for calm in Kisangani: situation "tense"

Although there were no further reports on Friday of fighting in the city of Kisangani in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the situation remains "tense", the UN spokesman in Kinshasa, Hamadoun Toure, said.

"The greatest possible efforts are being made at the highest levels among UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the UN Security Council, and the Special Representative of the Secretary General to the DRC, Amos Namanga Ngongi, to restore calm," Toure told IRIN.

"The events that since Tuesday are unfolding in Kisangani constitute, for MONUC [the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC], a matter of great concern," Toure had earlier said on Thursday. "MONUC calls on the parties to demonstrate restraint and put an end to the confrontations."

Toure noted that these incidents underscored the urgency for the demilitarisation of the city of some 500,000, which has been called for repeatedly by the UN Security Council.

On Wednesday night, UN officials in Kisangani, led by MONUC Deputy Force Commander Gen Martinelli, and including political and human rights officers, met the governor of Kisangani to stress the need for the situation to be resolved peacefully without the use of force.

"MONUC also demands that human rights be respected. We urge the parties not to engage in any further action that might aggravate a situation that is already complicated enough," Toure said on Thursday. "Contacts are being made at the highest level with [the rebel] RCD [-Goma: Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie] authorities for the immediate return of calm to Kisangani. MONUC takes the opportunity to extend condolences to families of the victims and assures that it will do all in its power for the return of calm."

By Friday, the estimated number of deaths caused by the fighting on Tuesday in Kisangani remained somewhere between 20 to 30, but was yet to be confirmed. A number of civilians were among the dead.

RCD-Goma officials had first accused a dissident faction, RCD-Originale, of launching the attack. However, RCD statements issued on Wednesday did not mention the breakaway faction, instead accusing DRC President Joseph Kabila's government and the Ugandan-backed Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) of launching a bid to take the city and bring in reinforcements by air, AFP reported.

Meanwhile, Toure requested on Friday that IRIN clarify that he stated that the UN military observer who was killed on Monday when his vehicle drove over a landmine was killed "by violent action", rather than by "hostile action", as reported on Tuesday by IRIN. Toure noted that an investigation of the incident was currently under way.