UK to assist in formation of unified national army

The United Kingdom has expressed its willingness to assist the numerous armed factions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with their integration into a unified national army, according to the UK ambassador to the DRC, Jim Atkinson.

The announcement came following a mission Atkinson had undertaken to discuss the matter with the leaders of armed opposition groups throughout the DRC.

"We haven't yet arrived at a stage where I could tell you what the specifics of any such military cooperation with Great Britain would be," Atkinson told IRIN on 27 January, upon completion of his mission.

He was accompanied on his tour by experts from the UK ministries of defence, foreign affairs, and international cooperation. With this team of experts, Atkinson held talks in the capital, Kinshasa, with governmental and military authorities. He held similar talks in the northwestern town of Gbadolite with leaders of the Mouvement de liberation du Congo, and in the eastern city of Goma with those of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie.

"As soon as the transitional government is in place, we will offer our assistance in collaboration with Belgium and France in domains in which we have expertise or experience, including matters regarding demobilisation [of troops]," he said.

Belgium, the former colonial ruler of the DRC, and France recently announced their own willingness to lend their support to the integration of the numerous Congolese armed factions into a unified national army.

Belgian Defence Minister Andre Flahaut recently made a tour of the DRC, at the conclusion of which he suggested the possibility of Belgian assistance in rehabilitating some of the DRC's military training schools.

For its part, France has already provided €1 million (US $1.05 million) to the United Nations Development Programme for the disarmament and demobilisation of armed groups being carried out by the UN Mission in the DRC.